


Anecdotes from Crystal Quaker

by Montydragon



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, also this is gonna get real gay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-02
Updated: 2017-08-02
Packaged: 2018-10-14 02:12:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 25,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10526721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Montydragon/pseuds/Montydragon
Summary: A backwards high school. A strange history. A group of students, all seeming to act like a family. Peridot never asked for any of this, but now that she's here, she might as well enjoy it.





	1. Orientation

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! I think this is my first multi-chapter fanfiction on AO3. I wanted to write a story based on my school (possibly one of the most surreal places I've ever been) after wondering how Peridot would get along there. 
> 
> Also, a lot of the stories in here are based off my real experiences. Have fun reading!

If she hadn’t believed it before, she believed it now. She… was actually going to go to this school.

First of all, before perhaps a month ago, she had been entirely confident she wouldn’t be going here. The entire place looked ridiculous - a school out in the woods that she had never even heard of, except perhaps occasionally on the tongues of some of Diamand High’s athletes as they talked about places they were to go for games. She simply couldn’t find herself taking it seriously as a place where any education could be had, especially when she saw how many people were going there.

Eight hundred kids? In total? _In a school that went from primary learning to twelfth grade?_

It didn’t seem entirely logical to her. 

Secondly, and perhaps most glaringly, she had absolutely no idea she would be expelled from Diamond High. 

She had been such a good student. She had skipped a grade in middle school, going straight from sixth to eighth, and had been getting top marks in all her classes. She knew that punishment for messing with authority was severe, which was why she pointedly never questioned authority, until the fateful day last spring when she’d had a furious, expletive-filled outburst at Principal Diamond herself.

Needless to say, a few meetings later and it had been decided she would not return to the school.

She couldn’t believe herself. She could still hear her own voice ringing in her ears, screaming at the shocked teacher. And the humiliating summer, struggling to learn what she’d missed in the last month or so of school, and more importantly, finding out where she would continue her education the next year.

Unfortunately, there weren’t a lot of other places to go. She had been fully convinced she’d be going to one of the two public schools in her area the next year. She wasn’t bothered by that in the slightest - she’d excel in the classes with no problem. However, her parents didn’t see it the way she had, and had found… this place.

What an utterly backwards school. 

The first thing she noticed about it on sight was how it looked. She hadn’t been expecting anything as impressive as her old campus (with a name like Crystal Quaker? Honestly, what _was_ she expecting?), but this place looked more like a massive house connected to a camp’s mess hall. It was on a hill, surrounded by forest, and somewhat resembled a beach house a little with the wooden decks outside. Certainly, it did not look like the schools she was used to. There were three or four main buildings, all connected in a semi-circle by walkways, with lockers under awnings outside.

The second thing that hit her was the lack of uniforms. Diamond High had been meticulous about uniforms - she remembered with a shudder one kid who had gone to detention three times for not wearing his ID on his uniform, which violated dress code. But here? Yes, she knew, it was only orientation day, but these kids looked like they were at a summer party, not an orientation. They all wore different colors and styles. She even spotted a tall freshman with long dark hair wearing a light blue crop top over another shirt.

 _This place is too weird_. She picked her way through students, trying not to step on anyone’s feet. The patio at the base of the steps that lead up to what she assumed was the main building seemed to be the base of operations here. It wasn’t big enough for everyone, and people were pairing off into groups quickly. She didn’t know which way to turn. She heard her name called by someone, and sprinted over to them in a panic.

“Yes, I’m here.” 

“You’re Peridot Pritchard?” The senior who had called her name peered at her with dark glasses over her clipboard. 

“Yes.”

“Welcome. I’m Alex.” She held out a dark-skinned hand, her eyes invisible behind her glasses. She was also much, much taller than Peridot, towering over her by at least a foot and a half. She hesitated, then took her hand, shaking it. 

“A… pleasure.”

“Locker assignments are over there. Advisor assignments there.” She paused. “Clubs are later this month. There’s a tour in ten minutes”

She watched her as she looked over her clipboard another time, slowly, then turned back to her. “Say hi to anybody you like. I’ll be here.”

“Thank you… Alex.” She took a few steps away, looking towards the locker table. Alex gave her a nod before calling out another student’s name.

In a few minutes, she had claimed a locker and gotten her advisor assigned - somebody named Ronaldo. She had no idea who he was, and honestly didn’t care that much. From what she’d gathered, advisors weren’t very important anyway. 

She ended up wandering along with the tour of young students, mostly freshmen, and learning the school relatively well. It was even more ridiculous than it had looked on the outside. Some rooms were part of the building, but had no way to access the other rooms besides traveling across a walkway or two or up a flight of stairs. The main building was built like a log cabin, and there were rafters that seemed a little precarious, especially in one classroom where she saw that somebody had hung a hammock from the ceiling. She caught a glance of the entrance to an attic. Everything seemed to require steps, too, since the whole building was built up a hill.

She sighed once the tour was over. She’d already bought all her supplies and packed up her backpack. She’d be here again tomorrow. 

Before she left orientation however, she’d gotten a chance to look at the other sophomores who were new that year. There were maybe four or five; a number she scoffed at. They mostly seemed like kids who had transferred from other weirdo schools. However, there was one person who caught her eye, a tan-skinned girl with dyed blue hair and a halter top, who sat on one of the benches and scribbled in a small book set in her lap.

She shook her head and steadied herself, rolling her eyes. She could think about how pretty she thought girls were later. Right now, she had to go home and think about what kind of world she would be entering the following day.


	2. First Day(s)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long! Here's the second chapter of the story. I'm sorry I left it off where I did, I was getting tired. The next chapter's going to be interesting, though.
> 
> Also, a quick note: these will be more like short stories most likely, instead of one big story with one plot. Still though, gotta get those introductions done. Hope you all enjoy!

Peridot didn’t want to do her first day the favor of calling it as such. 

They were only at the school until noon, and practically didn’t have any class. She visited each room where her classes would take place. She felt frustrated visiting each one; she’d already seen them all the day before, and besides getting syllabuses from a few teachers, they didn’t learn anything in the visits at all. She just wanted to get on with it already.

There was also the matter of her advisor.

She’d been right in assuming that advisors really didn’t matter that much. They seemed to serve simply as a homeroom supervisor, and as an extent the teacher who would compile your evaluation for the end of the year. However, not only did everyone make a big deal about advisors and their groups, but her advisor was a person she instantly didn’t like.

Ronaldo was a husky man who couldn’t have possibly been older than twenty-five. She wondered how in the world he had been hired. He spoke too loud, had conspiracy theory posters all over the walls of his classroom, and claimed excitedly that each one of his “advisees” were now members of his secret truth-finding organization. She’d wanted to get up and leave. He reminded her of kids she used to avoid on the playground.

She’d gotten home in a huff after leaving at noon for dismissal. Her mother had work to do, and so she’d been left in her room, happy to forget about school and play some video games instead. 

There was one thing she was dreading though, and that was the fact that they were supposed to go on a school-wide field trip the next day. The entire high school would be bused out to some park in the woods for a day of “team building activities”, which she absolutely hated and was legitimately considering faking a fever to get out of. It seemed like such a waste of time. She didn’t need to know the names of her fellow students, unless she was working with them, and she certainly didn’t need any further interaction besides that.

However, when she arrived at school the next day, waiting to get on one of the many tiny buses with a bunch of other smelly kids, the head teacher called an emergency meeting instead. She found herself pushed to the back of a small assembly building, where she sat on a bench and stared up to the front of the room curiously.

She’d already seen the head teacher the day before. He was a short man by the name of Steven Universe, who had long curly black hair and wore a red t-shirt with a star on it. She still entirely believed none of these teachers were actually qualified for their jobs. This guy looked like he’d walked out of a beach town after working at a car wash for five years.

As soon as everybody was settled, Steven cleared his throat. “Hello everybody! I’m sure you’re all waiting to get on the buses… And, uh, about that.” He looked around, getting a nod from the wavy-haired librarian she’d briefly glimpsed yesterday. “We aren’t going to the park today. Or at all this week.”

She heard a surprised murmur from the students, and found herself internally cheering after sharing their confusion for a moment. She’d never liked the park idea.

“As some of you might know, our senior students were out last night at the park setting up for today’s activities. They were all very excited to have you. But it turns out that one or more of the seniors had lice.” He paused. “And now all the tents and seniors are contaminated. The seniors are currently being deloused.” At the even louder murmur that passed through the room, he held up his hands quickly with a nervous laugh. “But don’t worry! We’re still going to have the activities. We’re just doing them on the soccer field, and we’re waiting for some of the seniors to get here. You’ll wait in your groups.”

He then went on to explain further the events that had transpired the previous night, at the request of some curious junior in the front row. Peridot tuned out a little. This she could handle. As long as they weren’t going anywhere else, she could drag herself out onto that sparsely grassy field for a little while. She didn’t really have to talk to anybody. Maybe she could even leave long enough to look at her phone for a little while.

They soon dispersed, and she walked to her homeroom. 

Ronaldo’s room was like any of the others she’d seen in the main building: precarious wooden beams, a door that never seemed to shut properly, and a smell that reminded her vaguely of sweaty feet mixed with hardwood finish. The teacher himself wasn’t there at the moment, and she reasoned he was most likely in some sort of meeting with the other teachers. She sat down in a chair and pulled out her phone, briefly checking through her notifications.

She looked up when somebody sat down next to her. 

The student was incredibly tall. Her leanly-muscled arms rested on the table in front of them, supporting her as she leaned into her hands. She had an afro and rich dark skin, interspersed with light freckles that disappeared under a pair of heavily reflective glasses that rested on her nose. Peridot’s legs immediately felt like jelly. She’d glanced at this particular student maybe once when she’d first gotten her group yesterday, but certainly not closely.

The student turned, giving her a look that seemed curious, although Peridot couldn’t be sure with the dark glasses covering her eyes. “Hello. I don’t believe we’ve met.” 

“I-I’m… Peridot. I’m a sophomore.” She berated herself silently as she stuttered, slipping her phone into her pocket.

“Garnet.” The student leaned back next to her and held out a hand. “Junior.” She smiled as Peridot tentatively reached out and shook it. “You weren’t here last year, so you must be new. Welcome to Crystal Quaker.”

“It’s… interesting.” She tried not to sound disrespectful. It looked like Garnet had been here for a while, judging by how comfortable she seemed.

“That it is.” Garnet chuckled. “Don’t worry, all new students find this place hard to adjust to.”

“It’s not that it’s hard to adjust to…” Peridot fidgeted. “It’s just… weird.” She cringed a little at her choice of words. However, this didn’t seem to offend the junior in the slightest.

“It is weird. Why do you think so many people like it here?” Garnet gave her a slight smile.

“Nothing makes sense. You call teachers by their first names, like you’re addressing another student. Your classes last forty-five minutes, and you don’t even have them every day. And we haven’t even had any classes yet!” She felt a little frustrated. “When do classes start? I want classes to start.”

“They start tomorrow. And, it’s alright if you don’t understand yet.” She gave a little shrug. “Most people don’t.” At that, she was completely quiet again, and Peridot found herself not wanting to say anything else.

 

After a while, Ronaldo finally sauntered in and announced that it was time for them to go to the field for team-building games. Peridot groaned quietly, but got up, following the rest of the students out. However, she found herself sticking close to Garnet, her being the only one of any of these students she knew. As soon as they were walking to the field, Garnet had migrated over to two students from a different group. Peridot, still close to her, heard them.

The taller student of the two students looked like a stick, and had pale skin and a long nose. She was talking extremely cheerfully. “I’m so GLAD that we’re all finally back! Garnet, I do have something to tell you. Sardonyx said that she and the rest of the seniors should be back by noon. They’ve nearly finished dealing with the lice.”

“Good.” Garnet sounded just as cheerful, and Peridot had deduced at this point that she knew these people well. 

She heard a boisterous laugh from the shorter of the two she was talking with, a girl with long hair dyed purple and a low-cut tank top. “Can you believe they all got lice? Stev-O made it sound like when they found those termites in the walls last year. Apparently they were all over EVERYTHING.”

“Oh, don’t remind me!” the taller one laughed. “Structural instability! It’s a good thing they found out before the roof fell in.” 

“I don’t agree. It would have been funny if the roof fell in!”

“Amethyst is right. It would have been funny.”

“Well, not for the school budget. And do you really want them doing MORE construction?”

The other two shook their heads, the shorter mumbling that she had a point there. Peridot found the entire interaction remarkable.

They didn’t do much during the field activities, once they got there. Peridot found herself in several relay races and strange games which she decided were for the purpose of embarrassing yourself in front of others in order to open up to them more. It wasn’t as bad as she’d thought it would be. The sun wasn’t even high enough in the sky yet to really burn. Even so, she frequently took breaks to slather her skin in sunblock. It was during one of these times, during the lunch break, that she found herself sitting next to Garnet and her companions. 

There was one more student with them now. Besides the two she’d already seen, there was the girl with the halter top she’d spotted at orientation two days ago, the one with the book. She was sitting quietly at the edge, next to Garnet. Peridot sat on Garnet’s other side. 

Garnet introduced her. “Amethyst, Pearl, Lapis. This is Peridot. She’s from…” She looked at her. “I’m don’t believe you told me.” 

“Diamond High.” She gave Garnet a nod. “I transferred from there.”

“Diamond High,” Garnet echoed, returning her nod and turning back to the others. “She’d in Ronaldo’s, like I am.” 

“Coolio.” The short girl stuck out a stubby hand. “I’m Amethyst Aiza.”

Peridot shook her hand, then turned to the taller girl, who nodded to her politely. “Pearl Chevalier.” She nodded back, finding herself rather pleased with the respect. She then turned to the tan-skinned girl, who put down her book.

“Lapis Lazuli.” Peridot caught a glimpse of her eyes from beneath blue dyed hair. They were nearly the same color.

“Nice… to meet you.” Lapis nodded and then looked back at her book, evidently not having much interest. Peridot felt a little discouraged, but shook it off as she heard Amethyst excitedly talking to Garnet again.

“Dude, Ruby said we’re going to have new jerseys this year!” She reached over the table and bumped Garnet’s arm. “Took ‘em long enough.” 

“Finally.” Garnet sounded amused, bumping Amethyst back. Peridot didn’t say anything. She just watched these interactions, mentally noting how these students acted. They were different from Diamond High. More… relaxed.

She sighed. She was here now, and these people seemed nice enough. She wouldn’t mind spending a little time with them.


	3. History Class

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, early chapter this week! I'm having a lot of fun planning this story out. We're getting more into the actual stories here, but we still gotta have some context.

There was a bathroom on the second floor of one of the buildings, tucked mostly out of sight near a row of lockers at the end of the hall. Peridot wouldn’t have noticed it was there if she hadn’t been determined to know every inch of the school, and had discovered it during one of the lunch breaks. 

It was a relatively normal bathroom, the same size as the ones downstairs and in the main building. The second level of this particular building only had two classrooms, both for science classes, as well as the staffroom, and because of this there weren’t usually a lot of students on the second floor. As a result, the bathroom seemed devoid of all human contact most of the time, which Peridot loved. The other bathrooms were usually full, and she didn’t care about walking a little extra way if it meant she could pee in peace.

It was during one of her lunch breaks, in the third or fourth week of school, that she stumbled upon Lapis Lazuli in the bathroom.

She had nearly tripped over her entering. She was sitting against the wall, her blue skirt pooling around her on the floor, and there was a bottle of water and a book in her hands. She looked nearly as shocked as Peridot did, getting to her feet immediately.

“What are you doing in here?” Was the first thing out of Peridot’s mouth, and then she felt stupid. This wasn’t her bathroom after all. However, she had to wonder why she was sitting on the floor.

Lapis looked at her, face going blank. “Doing whatever you’re doing. It’s a bathroom.”

Peridot felt embarrassed, and held her arm, averting her gaze. “Right. Of course.”

Lapis gave her a nod. Her gaze dropped, staring at the door. “I eat in here sometimes. It’s quiet.”

“O-oh.” Peridot fidgeted. “I… come in here too. Because it’s quiet.”

“Kinda nice to have a quiet place.” Peridot found herself relaxing a little at the agreement in Lapis’ tone. The blue-haired girl had sat back down, and Peridot found herself sitting beside her, threading her hands together and casting her nervous glances.

Lapis opened her water bottle and took a sip, then set in on the floor. “So. Why’re you here?”

“Why… am I here?” 

“At this school. People don’t just end up here.”

“Well… I was expelled from my last school. My parents thought it would be beneficial of me to come here… I was opposed at first, but, I don’t have much of a choice.” She looked up at the ceiling. “Besides. It’s not… that terrible.”

“Glad you think that.” They lapsed into silence again, and Peridot wondered. 

“Why… why are you here?”

“Me?” The girl glanced over at her. Peridot paused, then gave a nervous nod. Lapis seemed to think a little. “Nowhere else to go, really.” 

“What… do you mean by that?”

Lapis gave a dry laugh. “I’ve been homeschooled since second grade. And before that… I was here. Always been here. Just… took a break.”

“Oh.” Second grade to tenth grade seemed like a pretty long break, but Peridot didn’t voice that aloud. She was wondering why, too, but again, she didn’t want to be rude. Lapis had leaned back against the wall, and was twitching her bare feet. 

“Did… you know any of the other students here, before you left?” She finally settled on what seemed to be an appropriate question.

“Yeah. Few of them. Pearl’s been here since preschool, practically. I saw her a few times. And Garnet came in during first grade.” She seemed interested enough in this, though Peridot could tell from her tone that she was guarding something. She didn’t feel like pushing her. 

“...Cool.” 

Lapis gave her a small nod, then got up. “I’m going to leave you alone now.”

Peridot blushed. “R-right.” She watched Lapis open the door, and walk down the hall silently. Once she was gone, she used the bathroom and washed her hands, wondering about the other student. 

It was a few days later when she sat in on another conversation between Amethyst and Garnet, during one of the break periods. 

“You ever wonder if Bis is coming back?” They were all sitting in Ronaldo’s room, Amethyst perched on a table and Garnet sitting beside her, relaxed. Peridot was sitting in her chair, like a _normal_ student.

“I dunno.” Garnet gave a shrug. “She wasn’t technically expelled.”

“Yeah, but like, she coulda really hurt that kid.” Amethyst said. She scoffed. “He totally deserved it though. He’d better stay away from here.”

“Steven would let her have another chance.” Garnet pulled out an energy bar and started to eat, looking through her notes for her next class. Amethyst peered at her. Peridot felt confused. 

“Yeah… maybe. But you know how anti-violence he is and stuff.” She sighed. “But maybe. I miss her.”

“Who are you guys talking about?” 

Garnet and Amethyst looked over at Peridot, seemingly for the first time in the conversation. Amethyst gave her a little smile. “Oh, Bismuth. She was here last year. She beat up this kid from another school who was trying to start a fight with some other kids at our basketball game.” She chuckled. “I mean, REALLY beat him up.” 

“Oh.” Peridot felt a little left out, feeling disappointed at having not been there to experience it herself, but was happy to know.

“You wanna know who isn’t coming back though?” Amethyst turned back to Garnet, who looked up at her. “ _Jasper_.” She grinned. 

“Oh, definitely not.” Garnet chuckled a little. Amethyst looked at Peridot, still grinning. 

“Aw man, you don’t know who Jasper is either, you’re new!” She laughed. “Dude, you wanna know?”

“Ehm… Sure.” Peridot did want to know. Maybe knowing about other students would help her fit in better. 

“Ok, ok, so Jasper was this kid who was here since like, forever. Like, she was here as long as Pearl’s been. And apparently she had behavior issues even before I got here, like, she got suspended once or something in like, second grade.” Amethyst had sat up, recounting everything wildly. “Anyway, like, so everybody always knew there was something up with her, but nobody knew how bad until last spring.”

“It _was_ bad,” Garnet put in, glancing at Amethyst.

“Hell yeah it was.” She leaned in closer to Peridot. “This dog from a farm close to here? It came onto campus, and it had rabies. And they were all telling us to stay away from it, and then Jasper just charges out and tackles it. Everyone was yelling at her, but she just kept trying to hit it, and it bit her a bunch.” She winced. “She was bleeding everywhere. She got taken out in an ambulance.”

“Oh.” Peridot was shocked. “Does… anybody know why she did that?”

“No!” Amethyst threw up her arms. “That’s just it, NOBODY knows why. She never came back to school. The only reason we even know she got better is ‘cause Steven said so.”

“Wow.” She really didn’t know what to think about that. Strangely, now that they’d been talking about it… it seemed like the name Jasper was slightly familiar. 

“Yeah.” Amethyst leaned back on the table. “Honestly, I’m kinda glad she’s gone. Everyone was scared of her.”

“It wasn’t her fault.” Garnet put away her notes. “She had trouble interacting with people.”

“Yeah, but she had NO problem listening to the teachers. I mean, she was always a little iffy about Steven, but he wasn’t the one telling her to stay away from that dog.” She stood up, stretching. “Hope she’s ok, though. Just ‘cause she was a weirdo doesn’t mean I hated her.”

“Mm.” Garnet got up with her. “I’ll see you in Algebra, Amethyst, I need to study.” She leaned over, and Amethyst happily hopped up, giving her a tight hug and bumping her cute little nose against her cheek. 

“Love ya, G.” She let Garnet up and watched her walk out the door, sitting back on the table with a soft smile. Peridot looked up at her from her chair. 

“What class do you have next?” She found herself asking for the point of making conversation, rather than actual interest. 

“Chem. Actually, I got a quiz in it, I should probably go study too.” She slid off the table and grabbed her bag, slinging it over her shoulder. “See ya later, Peri.”

“See you… later.”

As she watched Amethyst leave out the window, she couldn’t help but continue to think about Jasper. She was certain she’d heard that name before. She found herself shuffling through her things, looking for her papers for her next class.


	4. Gym

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Another early chapter, 'cause things are getting fun. We haven't quite hit the gay motherload yet, but we're getting there.

Weeks after first hearing the name Jasper, Peridot was sitting in Ronaldo’s classroom working on an English paper when she heard a loud chorus of shouts outside. 

At first, she didn’t pay much mind, knowing that the students here were content to shout whenever the opportunity presented itself, but blinked and stood up in confusion when she heard Amethyst’s and Pearl’s among them. Putting away her computer, she raced outside onto the walkway, staring down at the patio in shock. There was a massive throng of students gathered around what appeared to be two seniors tussling on the ground. Peridot recognized one of them as Alex, the student who had showed her around on orientation day. 

She raced down the steps, pushing her way through the other students until she was next to Amethyst, who was in the front. “What’s going on?”

“Malachite said something dumb,” Amethyst replied, taking a rapid step back as the senior Peridot didn’t recognize tossed Alex a few feet away. She copied the purple-haired girl, getting a good look at the two students. Alex’s glasses were cracked, and through them Peridot could see a dark-colored eye, staring at the other senior with fury. The other senior had dark skin, mottled with strange strips of lighter markings - vitiligo, Peridot recognized. The unfamiliar senior laughed, her voice harsh, but was quickly cut off as Alex slammed down on top of her and hit her in the face.

It wasn’t long before Peridot heard the shouts of the teachers, and was abruptly pushed aside by the athletics director, a woman nearly as short as she was by the name of Ruby. She was followed by Connie the librarian, who leaped forward and took a hold of Alex’s arm, dragging her back over the brick patio. Alex let out a loud growl and struggled, but the librarian was much stronger than she looked.

Ruby, on the other hand, had thrown her arms around the other senior, restricting her movements, and pulled her backwards until she stumbled to her feet. With the two a good distance away from each other, Ruby began to yell. “ _WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING?!_ ” The senior she’d grabbed didn’t respond, only giving her a sulky look.

“Steven’s office. Now.” Connie didn’t let go of Alex’s arm, but Alex complied, still looking coldly at the other senior, who followed them under the furious watch of Ruby. Peridot gave them a respectable berth as the four marched up the stairs and entered the main building, the door swinging closed behind them. With the fight over, the crowd of students that had gathered began to disperse, murmuring among themselves as they went back to their lunch period.

Peridot looked at Amethyst, who was still standing with Pearl, and now Garnet. “What just happened?”

 

“That was Malachite and Alex,” Pearl said, as a matter-of-factly. 

“They don’t like each other much,” Garnet added. “Though this is the first time we’ve seen them physically fight.”

“Yeah, but G, it was totally going to happen at some point.” Amethyst shrugged, reaching down into the lunchbox she’s been carrying and pulling out a juice box, which she sucked down in an instant. She crumpled up the container and began chewing on the straw. 

“I… don’t understand.” 

“Malachite evidently said something… rather rude, about Alex’s family.” Pearl threaded her hands together. “Alex has three parents, and Malachite said something very tasteless.” 

“...Oh.” Peridot didn’t know what to think about that. 

“Told her she was an accident from when her parents were screwing around,” Amethyst elaborated.

“Oh.”

Garnet straightened up. “I’m going to go wait for Alex. She’s going to be in trouble.”

“I’ll come with you.” Pearl hopped to her side, and the two started up the stairs, Pearl practically clinging to Garnet’s arm. Amethyst had stuffed her thoroughly-dry juicebox into her pocket and was starting to head up for her own classroom. Peridot shouted at her.

“Wait!”

Amethyst looked back at her. “Yeah?” 

“We have gym together. Can I come with you?”

Amethyst shrugged. “I was gonna head to Harold’s room… But yeah, sure, after I guess.”

Peridot scrambled up the steps to meet Amethyst, walking with her up into the main building. It wasn’t hard for her to keep up with Amethyst; they both had short legs. She flinched as they walked past Steven’s office, hearing Ruby yelling. Peridot wondered if she’d be done in time to teach their PE class.

“How often do fights happen?” she asked.

“Never,” Amethyst answered, without skipping a beat. “They happen in elementary school sometimes, but never here.”

“So… They’re in big trouble.” 

“Right.” 

They reached Harold’s room and entered. It reminded Peridot sometimes of Ronaldo’s room, in the wooden walls and the precarious rafters, but it had a nice smell to it that she liked. As she sat down with Amethyst, she noticed a few other students in the corner, and surprisingly enough, Lapis was lying down on one of the couches.

She blinked at her. “Is Lapis ok?”

Amethyst looked over at the blue-haired girl, giving a small snort. “She’s probably just tired. Dude, I can’t even count the amount of times I’ve passed out somewhere here. Almost did it on the roof once.”

Peridot decided not to question that.

Lapis eventually stirred, blinking blearily at the two other students that had entered the room. “...What are you guys doing in here?”

“Hanging out.” Amethyst stretched out on the couch, showing off her soft belly. “Hope you don’t mind us in your advisor’s room. Alex and Malachite got in a big fight outside, so pretty much everyone’s staying away from Steven’s office right now.”

“They did?” Lapis sat up. Amethyst nodded, grinning.

“Yeah. Pretty sure Alex coulda broken Mal’s nose.”

“Huh.” Lapis looked over. “Hey, Peridot.”

“Hi.” She gave a nervous wave. Lapis looked at her for a few more moments before lying back down. Peridot wondered if she’d noticed her anxiety.

“When’s next period? Smiley probably has a class in here.”

“In like ten minutes, but Peri and I are leaving in five ‘cause we gotta get up to the gym.”

“Cool.” Lapis pulled her phone out of her pocket and started to mess around with it. 

They ended up leaving Harold’s room earlier than in five minutes. Amethyst liked having time to change into her gym shorts, and Peridot respected that. As they walked, Peridot asked Amethyst, “Lapis is in Harold’s group?”

“Yeah.” She seemed to think for a moment. “I think his husband taught her when she was in elementary school. He’s called…” She grumbled. “Ugh, I can’t remember his name, but his last name’s Frowny.”

“Huh.” Smiley and Frowny. That was interesting. And a little unfortunate for Frowny, if Peridot was being honest.

They reached the gym, and Amethyst retreated into the locker room to change. Peridot had learned in the last week or so that Amethyst was on both the soccer and basketball teams, and so was used to being in the locker room. Peridot had never set foot in there. She headed into the gym and stood, watching as some of the other students gathered in groups as they waited for the teacher.

A few minutes later, Ruby entered. Her curly black hair was tied up in a ponytail, and she was looking absolutely fiery. Peridot took a step back, remembering how she’d yelled at the two fighting seniors.

“Alright, everyone!” she yelled, getting everyone to stand at attention. She smiled at them, and Peridot felt a bit of relief. “It’s a dodgeball day!”

Peridot flinched as joyful screams rang through the gym. Oh, how she _loathed_ dodgeball. She reminded herself that this class would only be for a trimester, and that it counted towards her PE credits in the end. They split into teams quickly, and Amethyst was on the other side, grinning at Peridot as she helped arrange the balls into a line splitting the room in two. “I’ll go easy on you, Peri.”

“Great,” she returned in a deadpan.

They stood back and waited, some in a stance, others hovering dangerously close to the balls. Ruby looked over both sides, then blew the whistle.

It was like watching a dam break. Students from both sides surged forward, grabbing the balls and bombarding each other. Peridot had done the strategic thing, and retreated to the further corner of her side, watching the carnage play out from the safety of the wall. However, she quickly realized that this wasn’t going to work, as she watched the majority of her teammates sulkily walk to the other side as they were hit. As she waited, she slowly began to realize that she might be the only one left on her side.

She was unfortunately correct in her assumption. She watched the only other remaining member of her team, a hefty tan-skinned kid with short fluffy hair, was hit in the stomach and knocked back. Amethyst, who somehow had remained untouched on the other side, hooted. “Gotcha, Smokey!”

Smokey got up off the floor with a good-natured laugh, brushing themself off and jogging to the other side. Peridot watched as the other team blinked. “Ruby, did we win?”

“There’s still one other player.” Ruby smiled and pointed at Peridot, and Peridot stared at the other side in horror. They were all grinning. With one last target, it would be easy for them. 

Very slowly, she came out of her corner, picking up a ball on the ground and walking towards the line. Every one of the other team had a ball in their hand. She swallowed thickly and then stepped back to throw her ball.

She was absolutely pelted. It seemed as though every member of the other team had thrown their balls in unison, and she was sent sprawling to the ground with an undignified “Oof!” The other team screamed and jumped around, slapping each other in the backs and whooping loudly. Ruby blew the whistle, and everybody got up, setting the balls back into the center of the room.

Peridot’s team lost every game after that, but she didn’t make the mistake of waiting in the back. Instead, she walked out early, letting Amethyst hit her so she could sit down. She figured that if they were going to lose, it’d be better to go over to the other side as soon as possible.


	5. Mayor Frickin' Dewey

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! New chapter, this time with Mayor Dewey. Peridot starts to wonder how this school works. This is based a bit on an experience at my school. However, while this chapter is mildly inspired by a particular thing that happens at my school from time to time, the next chapter's basically an outright telling of an amusing story that happened a while ago.

Peridot always found herself annoyed by how this school did announcements. Instead of having announcements over a loudspeaker like an actual high school, they’d gather up in the little auditorium every Monday after lunch and listen to the teachers give each one individually. It was long, uncomfortable, and exceedingly unnecessary. 

However, this particularly announcement meeting had been surrounded by murmurs of somebody visiting the school. Peridot didn’t take too much interest. People visited schools all the time. In the auditorium, she sat down with Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl, with Lapis nearby, waiting for everyone to settle down so Steven could speak.

Steven got up with a big grin on his face. “Good afternoon, everybody!” he said cheerfully. “I have some very exciting news. Our very own Mayor Dewey is coming to teach for about government and history of this town for a week, at this school!”

Remarkably enough, this didn’t get too much chatter. Peridot was surprised. The kids at this school would cheer for anything. She heard Amethyst mumble something behind her, followed by Pearl’s exasperated sigh.

Steven continued, not seeming phased by the lack of audience approval. “Now, we all have to give a big thanks to him when he comes next week. We’re lucky he’s visiting, and that he’s got a child here.” Everyone looked at Buck, a teenager sitting in the front row between a girl with puffy hair and a boy in waders. Buck sighed and hung his head. Steven, however, still chugged on. “If you’re in a history or economics class, you can look forward to him visiting. He’ll also be doing a school presentation for everyone on Tuesday.”

Steven stepped down and let other teachers make announcements. Sapphire, the algebra teacher, declared that somebody had left a calculator in her room. Sadie mentioned something about a paper extension. Connie urged people to check out books. Or return books. One of the two. Peridot had tuned out at that point.

When they finally left the stuffy hall, she heard Pearl burst out, “Good God, will he _ever_ stop coming?!”

“No. He’s gonna come here until Buck graduates, or he moves to Florida.” Amethyst rolled her eyes. “You’d think he’d get tired of this.”

Peridot blinked. “Are you two talking about Mayor Dewey?” 

“Who else would we be talking about?” Amethyst threw her hands up. “Dude, he’s been coming here EVERY YEAR. Since like, before I got here.”

“Ugh, and he teaches the same thing every time!” Pearl looked like she was going to tear out her hair. “I’m so fed up with him! He doesn’t know a thing about the students here.”

Garnet watched both of them. “We can’t blame him. He hasn’t got a clue. But… Pearl does have a point.”

“Why does Steven keep getting him to come back, then?” Peridot asked, confused. 

Amethyst shrugged. “You know Steven. He likes ANYTHING special.”

“But does he have to come back _every year?!_ ”

Garnet placed a hand on Pearl’s shoulder, rubbing gently. The skinny girl visibly seemed to relax under the warm touch, letting out a slow exhale and calming herself a bit. “Sorry, Garnet.”

“It’s fine.” Garnet patted her and then removed her hand. “I’m not looking forward to this either, but it’s only for a week.”

“Right.” Pearl steeled herself. “Only for a week.”

That week seemed to come very quickly. When Peridot came in on Monday, Garnet was waiting for her outside of her homeroom. “We’re going to the auditorium.”

“Great,” Peridot grumbled, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. What better way to start the week off by being cramped between a bunch of other tired students? Nevertheless, she followed Garnet along the walkways until they reached the auditorium, entering and finding a seat. It seemed as though they were early. 

Over the course of the next ten minutes or so, the other students slowly trickled in. Some looked exhausted, and others just looked incredibly bored. They all took their seats, waiting for announcements to start.

Steven took center stage once it looked like most, if not all, the student body had arrived. “Happy Monday, everyone!”

He was met by many murmurs and grumbles. It didn’t seem to affect his demeanor at all. “We have our special guest here today. I’d like to introduce all of you to Mayor Dewey.”

He beckoned somebody onto the stage, and a thin man with flushed skin and receding hair walked out. He was dressed in a grey suit, and he gave the crowd a smile. They looked back at him with tired eyes.

“Good morning. I’m Mayor Dewey. You may be wondering, why it is I’m visiting your lovely school today. Well, Steven has invited me back another year, and of course, I’m more than willing to come help educate our town’s youth.” He straightened up and adjusted his tie. “And of course, I’d never pass up an opportunity to visit my son’s school. Right, Buck?”

Buck, sitting in the front row, looked like he wanted to disappear.

“Aha, right.” Mayor Dewey looked a little sweaty as he brushed his suit. “Well, I’m looking forward to educating all of you.”

Steven piped up. “We’ll be doing a full presentation for everyone later today, instead of announcements. So, we’ll be taking care of those this morning.” Mayor Dewey stepped back, looking happy to be out of the attention of so many teenagers, and the other teachers started to make announcements. Peridot didn’t understand why Pearl was so annoyed. This man wasn’t impressive, certainly, but he didn’t seem _that_ bad.

Once they were released from the meeting, Amethyst rolled her eyes. “Just like last year.”

Pearl responded with a grumble.

When they were all ushered in for the full presentation Peridot, however, finally came around to Pearl’s way of thinking. Mayor Dewey began to talk about the history of the town, starting when his ancestor founded it, and wound his way around the story, backtracking and, in Peridot’s opinion, completely embellishing whatever actually happened. She certainly doubted that William Dewey fought off a whale with only a knife. Whales weren’t even aggressive. 

About halfway through the presentation, Amethyst leaned over to her and whispered, “Yo. Me and Lapis are bailing.” Lapis, sitting on the other side of Amethyst, nodded, looking incredibly bored. 

Peridot’s eyes widened. She furiously whisper-shouted back, “You- you can’t! That’s… against school rules…”

“Pfft, what rules?” Amethyst snorted. “Look. We’ll act like we’re going to the bathroom, and… we’ll just not come back. Nobody’ll notice.”

Peridot still looked reluctant. Lapis mumbled, “This is boring as hell. I’m getting out of here.”

She sighed. She might as well follow Lazuli. 

Amethyst left first, picking her way out of the audience and leaving for the bathroom. Lapis followed after her a few minutes later, moving so subtly that Peridot almost didn’t notice that she was gone. She was willing to bet she’d had practice.

Finally, a few more minutes passed, and Peridot slowly got out of her seat, sweat beading on her forehead and her entire body feeling hot. She moved through the audience timidly. Surprisingly enough, nobody seemed to notice, and even if they did, they didn’t seem to care. Mayor Dewey just kept talking in the same unbearable voice. She found herself breathing a breath of relief as she reached the door, walking outside and heading to the bathroom.

Lapis and Amethyst were there, leaning against the walls. Amethyst smiled as Peridot came in. “Hey, you made it out.”

“I did.” Peridot wiped her forehead.

“Good job.” Lapis gave her a bit of a pat on the shoulder, then pulled out her book and started to doodle in it. Amethyst checked her watch.

“Presentation should be done in like, fifteen minutes. We can camp out here until it’s over.” She threw back her bleached hair and yawned, sliding down to the ground and starting to play on her phone. Lapis and Peridot copied her. This particular bathroom off the auditorium wasn’t used too often, so Peridot wasn’t worried about how sanitary the ground was. 

As Amethyst had said, the presentation was over in about fifteen minutes. A few students filtered into the bathroom, and the trio already camped out there left, moving down the hall towards their classes. Peridot felt her heart pound in her chest as she moved down the hall. She couldn’t believe she’d done that. She’d broken school rules. And she hadn’t been caught.

_It’s too easy to break the rules here_ , she thought to herself with a bit of shock. She wondered why students didn’t do it more often. 

She arrived in her next class, which was literature, and sat down. The teacher, Sadie, was seated in the corner, working on her computer. Peridot pulled out her books and waited patiently for the rest of the students to arrive. As she waited, she couldn't help but wonder if any were going to skip this class, too.


	6. Talent Show

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everybody! Decided that I'm going to start posting on Friday, so ya'll can read this on the weekend. Anyways, this was probably my favorite chapter to write so far, but oh man... things are only going to get better.

As ridiculous as this school was, the weeks Peridot spent there seemed to completely fly by. Before she knew it, Halloween had come and gone (featuring a costume contest that was judged by Pearl and the twin sisters Kiki and Jenny) and Thanksgiving was over before she knew it. Now she was stumbling through the last week of classes before blessed winter break, and she clearly wasn’t the only one.

Class here seemed to pretty much fall apart when students didn’t want to be there. They’d tap their feet or mumble things and yes, sometimes students would try to bail. Peridot was just focused on trying to find something good to do before she went home. They’d finished most of their exams the week before.

The day everybody seemed to be struggling towards was Friday, and Peridot knew exactly why. They didn’t have any classes on Friday, and it only went until noon. However, most of the morning was taken up by a talent show, which everyone had been talking about for weeks. Peridot didn’t see why. In her experience, talent shows were dull, and barely anybody performed, and when people did perform, it was either lackluster at best or so incredible that it made her feel small. 

Soon enough, though, Friday rolled around, and Peridot found herself being ushered down campus in the middle of the morning by several very eager students. This is when she realized the first thing about the talent show.

It wasn’t held in the meeting space, like just about every other thing that happened in the high school. It was held in the school auditorium, the one that all the grades shared, that was of adequate size and was easy to sit in. As soon as Peridot realized this, she became a little more comfortable, knowing she wouldn’t be smooshed on a bench between a bunch of other sandwiched students. She took her seat in one of the chairs, between Garnet and Amethyst.

The second thing she noticed, or rather recalled, was that there had been a signup sheet for the talent show in the main hallway for weeks, and it had been so covered in signatures that somebody had taken a piece of scrap paper and taped it to the bottom so there’d be more room. The list had been so long. There were… a _lot_ of people who were going to perform.

The third thing she realized was that this was Crystal Quaker, and absolutely nothing was going to be normal about this.

The host stepped on stage. Peridot knew her well enough; she was a tall junior by the name of Sardonyx, with a tuxedo on and curly hair partially bleached. She stood on stage with a microphone, the spotlight on her, beaming at the audience. “ _Goooood morning everybody!_ ”

The audience broke into cheers and whoops, and Sardonyx drank it all in, grinning and strutting across the stage. “We’ve got an incredible lineup for you all today. I’ve been looking over the list for days, and _oh my!_ ” She pressed a hand to her forehead, prompting more cheers. “We’re in for it this year.”

As the cheering finally died down, she pulled out a long list and looked down it. “Opening our lovely show this morning will be our seniors Sugilite and Malachite with an act titled ‘Eggs’.”

The audience cheered once more as the two seniors got onto stage. Peridot looked at Malachite with interest. She’d seen the senior around a little since the big fight, and she usually looked like she was in a sour mood. However, today she got on stage with a huge toothy grin on her face, elbowed by Sugilite, a massive senior with wild dark hair. 

Malachite seated herself down in a chair, and Sugilite took the mic from Sardonyx with a wink. Sardonyx rolled her eyes a little and blushed.

“Hey, everyone,” Sugilite greeted. Her confident smile turned into a smirk “...How many of you have played Egg Roulette?”

The crowd murmured a little. She continued to smirk. “In this carton of eggs…” She brought out a carton of eggs, setting it in Malachite’s lap. “We have eight hard boiled, and four raw. We will smash these eggs until somebody…” She not-so-subtly pointed at Malachite, “Gets a raw one.” Snickers erupted from the crowd, and Sugilite opened the carton, pulling out an egg at random and cracking it over her head. It was hard-boiled, and she let out a loud whoop. “You’re up, Mala,” she purred. 

Malachite pulled an egg out of the box, cracking it over her head in one hand. It didn’t splatter. She smirked and nudged Sugilite, who gave a nod of acknowledgment and took the box back.

The two next turns, both got hard-boiled eggs. The crowd was trembling with anticipation. Malachite finished her turn, dropping the hard-boiled egg into the carton. “Right back at you.” Her harsh voice seemed to echo in the room. Everyone was holding their breath.

Sugilite took an egg and smashed it over her head. Raw egg splattered everywhere. The audience erupted into loud cheers, making Peridot’s ears ring. 

Sugilite burst into laughter once she blinked her eyes open, her hair and face dripping with egg. Malachite was laughing so hard she was wheezing. The two threw up their hands and exited the stage. Somebody handed Sugilite a washcloth, and she went up towards the bathrooms to clean herself up. 

Peridot watched as Malachite sat down in the front of the audience. Remarkably enough, she sat down next to Alex, leaning over to mumble something in her ear.

There wasn’t much time to dwell on that, however, as Sardonyx took center stage again, looking at the raw egg on the floor with slight disdain. “Alright. Next up…” She peered down her list. “We have Stevonnie with ‘How many mini donuts can I put in my mouth at once…’?”

She stepped aside, then smiling as the tall freshmen got up on stage. Peridot recognized them well enough. She’d seen them during orientation. 

Stevonnie pulled out a bag of miniature donuts and took the mic from Sardonyx, who stepped back with an encouraging nod. They looked up at the audience and said in a small voice, “Hey, everybody.”

A few people in front yelled back “HEY!” and Stevonnie smiled nervously. 

“I, uhm… The title is pretty self-explanatory... “ They opened up the bag of donuts, pulling one out. “I… I really like donuts, so I thought I’d try this.” They looked at it gingerly, then started. The crowd counted as they stuffed them in, one by one.

At first, it seemed as though they’d be stuttering after two or three, but no. Somehow, Stevonnie chugged on, cramming in a fourth, and finally a fifth, making Peridot sit up in her seat. They shoved in a sixth, eyes watering, powdered sugar dusted around their hands and mouth. Garnet stood a little, looking as though she were readying herself to dash onstage. “Don’t choke!” she called.

With their cheeks bulging and powder occasionally puffing out, Stevonnie managed to get a seventh donut in their mouth before they started coughing, covering their face and spitting out the donuts into the bag as white clouds of powdered sugar puffed from their mouth. However, as they rose up with dark cheeks and an ashamed glance at the floor, the crowd went wild with cheers. They hesitated, looking around in shock, before smiling largely, looking a little more assured. “Thank you,” they murmured into the microphone, eyes sparkling. They went offstage with their bag of donuts, and Sardonyx took center again.

The rest of the acts were like that, but seemed to get more ridiculous each time somebody took center stage. The group of short, curly-haired girls who made up the majority of the baseball team blindfolded themselves and tried to identify each other by smell. Opal, a tall junior, shot a target off of Steven’s head with a nerf gun. Amethyst went up at one point and tried to show the audience how to grab a can with a whip she’d brought from home, but her can went flying into the audience and hit a substitute teacher named Lars in the head.

When there was an intermission, it flew by quickly. Peridot barely even realized it was there before she was thrown back into the acts. However, a fruit cup was pushed into her hand during the break by Pearl, mumbling about how much candy everyone had eaten already today as she handed out snacks to the group. She opened it and ate as the lights dimmed again and the chaos continued.

There was a waxing competition between a pair of seniors: who could wax their legs the fastest? There was a sophomore who got up and claimed to be able to drink a gallon of milk, but nobody found out because Sapphire pulled them offstage, mumbling about how that would kill them. Sadie got up at one point and started doing bird calls when things got quiet. What Peridot realized at this point was that teachers seemed to be allowed to participate, but she didn’t find this too bad, considering it wasn’t even a competition and everybody looked ridiculous anyway.

Finally, it seemed the show was coming to an end. Sardonyx held up her list, reading close to the bottom. “Next we have… Ruby and Sapphire with, ‘How to make a Grilled Cheese’.”

Peridot raised an eyebrow. Ruby and Sapphire got onto stage, grinning at each other. Sapphire carried a loaf of bread and some cheese. Ruby carried an iron.

They pulled out a table, still grinning at the audience. Elevator music started to play over the speakers, and Sapphire opened the bag of bread as her fellow teacher plugged in the iron. 

Together, they pulled out two slices of bread and put two slices of cheese between them, and set it down on the table. Ruby pressed the iron on top, and the audience clapped, the short teacher breaking into giggles. She high-fived the other and the two started to mime checking their watches. After a bit, they flipped the sandwich over and started to cook the other side.

Somebody in the front row shouted, “DO YOU DO THIS AT HOME?!” 

Ruby laughed, stepping forward. “Sometimes.”

Sapphire was laughing too, standing next to the other cheerfully. However, Peridot began to notice something from the table. The sandwich was smoking.

She glanced around, pointing at the sandwich. Garnet, who had been watching the two teachers with a small smile on her face, took notice of the iron. Her mouth dropped open. “Oh shit.”

It seemed people in the front row were starting to notice too. They tittered among themselves, some murmuring and pointing at the increasing smoke rising up off the grilled cheese. Ruby and Sapphire were high-fiving each other again, laughing, completely unaware of the spectacle behind them. 

Finally, somebody in the crowd screamed as the grilled cheese caught on fire.

Ruby looked up abruptly, letting out a loud yell once she saw the flames licking the sides of the sandwich. She dashed to the table and pulled the iron off, ripping out the plug for good measure, and Sapphire rushed in with a cup of water and poured it on the sandwich. It hissed and smoldered, but the fire was out. The sad remains of the grilled cheese lay waterlogged on top of the plastic table.

Ruby and Sapphire both stared at it. The elevator music had cut out the second they’d seen the fire. 

A moment later, Sadie rushed into the auditorium, evidently having left sometime during the fiasco. “I turned off the fire alarm,” she gasped, breathless.

Everyone was quiet. Finally, Ruby raised her hands and coughed awkwardly. “Welp, that’s it, everybody.”

After another brief moment of silence, the crowd started to cheer. Peridot could barely believe it. They really _would_ cheer for anything. 

Ruby and Sapphire regained their smiles, bowing and mopping the grilled cheese off the table with a roll of paper towels. With their act as cleaned up as could be, they left the stage, bathing in the admiration of creating a story that would be told for many of the following years. Sardonyx was once again on stage, wide-eyed. “Well… I don’t know if any of us can beat that." She wiped her face a bit. "Last act this lovely morning… Steven, on piano.”

The piano piece was nice, but barely anybody was fully listening to it at this point. The fire combined with winter break mere minutes away had fully stolen away the students' attention. When it was finally time to leave, Peridot was pushed and jostled as everyone ran out, eager to get home and celebrate the holidays. She mumbled irritably and walked back towards the high school to get her bag.

As she walked out, she was stopped by Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl, accompanied by Lapis. “Hey,” Amethyst said. “We wanna give you a present.”

“...You do?” Peridot raised an eyebrow. 

“Yeah.” Amethyst pulled out a little box and pushed it into her hands. “We know you’re having a little trouble adjusting, so… We wanted you to have some way to get all those feelings out. We’re all going home now, so don’t try to open it just yet. You can email us about it later.”

“Wow… thanks.” Peridot looked down at the little box in her hands. The four nodded at her, and suddenly, she was being pulled into a hug.

“We’ll miss you,” Garnet murmured into her ear.

“Hell yeah we will,” Amethyst added. Pearl let out a little huff, to which Lapis laughed.

They finally broke apart, the others bidding her goodbye and heading towards pickup. Lapis and Peridot were left together. 

Peridot looked over at her awkwardly. "I'll... see you after winter break?"

Lapis looked back with her same quiet look, but to her surprise, Peridot could see a bit of a smile to it. "...Sure. I... hope you have a nice break." Her voice got a little quieter. She pulled up her bag and looked up towards where pickup was. 

Peridot responded quietly. "You... you too."

Lapis nodded. They paused, looking at each other for a few moments, before Lapis turned and began moving away towards pickup after giving a small wave.

Peridot was still a little surprised by the whole gift-giving thing. She left, eventually finding her mom and going home, walking up to her room, and dropping her bag on the floor. She sat on her bed with the little wrapped box. Slowly, she removed the wrapping paper, turning over the object in her hands when it was finally revealed. She thumbed the buttons on the side gently, looking it over with some soft feeling she didn't recognize.

It was a tape recorder.


	7. Interlude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double-upload tonight! A brief interlude as Peridot thinks about her friends.

She lay on her bed, listening to her parents talk to guests downstairs and staring up at the dark ceiling.

She had to get away from it a bit. It was so loud down there. Her room was dim, quiet, and soothing, a good distance from the Christmas party downstairs. From the dark green bedspread to the soft grey walls, she felt thoroughly at home whenever she was there. 

Her tape recorder had a new home on her shelf beside her bed. After tapping her socked feet against the bedspread for a bit, she reached for it absentmindedly, playing with the buttons as she took it into her hands. It was a comfort object at this point, as important to her as the little robot toys and stuffed animals she’d collected over the years. After playing with it for a while, she set it beside her, sighing quietly. Her fingers fidgeted with the bedspread.

She… missed them.

She missed the students at Crystal Quaker. She missed Garnet, and her strong, steady presence. She missed Amethyst and her rambunctious but kind attitude. She even, daresay, missed Pearl’s perfectionism and squawking a little. 

She missed Lapis, too. She wanted to talk to her more. She couldn’t stop thinking about her now.

She ran her fingers over the bedspread, listening to her own breathing in the darkness of her room. Winter break would be over in a few days. She would be back at school again.


	8. The Best (Worst) Committee

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter of the double update! Peridot's back in school and, like it or not, now on the prom committee. Hope you enjoy!

Indeed, school was back in session before Peridot knew it.

Oh, what a place to be again. She’d almost forgotten the utter nonsense this school was. The first day she was back, she saw Ruby and Sapphire cuddling with a blanket and cups of hot chocolate on one of the railings. It was eight o'clock in the morning. They were in pajamas.

Another thing she really had forgotten about was that now that winter break was over, it meant everybody was starting to turn their gazes towards the end of the year, and all the events that would surround it. It felt as though Peridot were on a train that was slowly speeding up. However, the one _particular_ student who was already in full swing, bustling about and organizing, was Pearl Chevalier. 

It must have been the second or third day of school that Peridot was sitting on a picnic table, enjoying a sandwich and huddled in her green hoodie, when Pearl came up to her at a brisk pace. Peridot slowly shrank back. She knew what that pace meant. 

“Peridot! I hope you’re settling back in well. I wondered if you’d thought about joining the prom committee at all?” She gave her a big smile, sitting down delicately next to her.

Peridot swallowed a bite of sandwich. “Uh… no.”

Pearl looked a little disappointed for a second, but that disappeared in a blink. “Well! I’m sure you’d like to be on the committee. You see, we get to plan every aspect of the prom! We control the sound, the venue, the food… Oh, every little thing about it! And it’s great fun, too.”

“I… don’t really want to be on the prom committee,” Peridot responded a little hesitantly. 

Pearl put out her hands. “Peridot, it’s very good work! Good practice for planning other things at this school.”

“Well, yeah. But.... I don’t really care.”

Pearl huffed. “Well, _if_ you joined, besides getting to be in it with yours truly,” She put a hand against her chest, giving a proud little smile, “You’d have your ticket half-off. And would be deciding the prices.”

This got Peridot’s attention. She mulled it over, rubbing a hand against her chin. Half price… She wouldn’t lie, that was a good deal. Diamond High’s prom tickets had been upwards of a hundred dollars. At the same time, she didn’t want anything to do with this committee. She leaned back a little, brushing crumbs off her hoodie, weighing her options.

It couldn’t hurt, right? 

“...I’ll think about it.” 

“Oh, wonderful!” Pearl clasped her hands together. “If you decide, Lapis is also on the committee. I know you’re friends with her.” Peridot blinked a little as Pearl zipped up her coat. “Thank you!” she sing-songed, moving away towards the steps that lead into the building.

Peridot watched her, still. Well. There wasn’t much debate to the topic now.

A few weeks later, she sat down in Mr. Smiley’s room during lunch, waiting for Pearl to arrive to the first prom meeting. The only other kid there had long hair with streaks of pale pink and blue and heavy eyeliner on. She was leafing through a prom magazine, paying absolutely no mind to Peridot whatsoever. Peridot looked at her for a while before she heard the door creak open and saw a swish of blue skirt.

She looked up as Lapis Lazuli sat down beside her, folding her hands into her lap. She looked back at Peridot. “Hey there.” 

“Hi. Any idea when Pearl’s showing up?” Peridot tried not to look too excited. It felt very good to have a friend with her.

“No. And she’s the clerk. If she doesn’t show up, we’re not going to do anything.” Lapis pulled out a granola bar and started to eat it slowly, watching the door.

After a few more minutes, Pearl burst into the room, panting and carrying a binder. “Sorry I’m late!” she called, whirling into the chair at the front of the room. “Got a little tied up.”

“Probably flirting with her girlfriends…” Lapis mumbled. Pearl heard that and glared at her, though there was a distinct blush dusted across her nose.

“ _Anyway_ , I’m glad you all came.” She looked at the three other people in the room with a smile. “We’ve got an awful lot of work to do! I’m so glad the committee is so large this year!”

She stood and placed the binder on her chair, striding in front of the whiteboard. “First things first. We’ve got to decide the venue.”

“Can’t we just have it in the auditorium or something?” Lapis asked, swallowing a bite of granola bar.

“We, we _could_ , but that would mean we’d be providing the food, dancefloor, and sound ourselves.” Pearl puffed herself up. 

“Can we go to that place we went last year?” suggested the girl with the magazine.

“Now, that’s what I was thinking!” Pearl smiled, opening her binder. “Renting out a room at The Keystone is a great option. They’d provide food from the diner, even.” She leafed through a few pages. “Now, I can set that up with them, they said they’d be happy to have us this year. Do you all agree?”

There wasn’t much room to disagree. Peridot and Lapis nodded, not really caring.

“Great! Now, we need two people willing to make the playlist. I would happily do it myself, but I’m going to be working out everything with the venue. Any volunteers?”

There was a bit of silence. “I’ll do it,” Lapis finally grumbled. 

“I’ll help,” Peridot added quickly. Lapis gave her a small smile. Pearl grinned. 

“Excellent! You may want to work together at home, if you can. Do you two live close to each other?”

They hesitated. Peridot had no idea where Lapis lived, and she was pretty sure Lapis didn’t know where her house was, either. The two looked at each other, sharing a shrug. Pearl looked surprised.

“You don’t know? You should find out.” She turned another page and looked up. “Rainbow, do you want to handle decorations?”

The girl with the magazine nodded. “Sure.” 

“Great. Peridot and Lapis? Work on getting together outside of school.” 

“Sure. Can we leave now?” Lapis looked bored.

Pearl huffed. “Fine. Rainbow and I will go over decorations.”

“Thanks.” Lapis got up, waiting for Peridot to stand. Peridot was a little surprised, but quickly joined her, and the two walked out of the room and into the hall. Once they were out, Lapis sighed.

“Geez. Good to be out of there.”

“...Why are you on the committee?” Peridot was timid about the question, but overwhelmingly curious.

“Tickets are half off. And I want to go.” The blue-haired girl stopped next to her cubby and reached in to grab her lunch. She looked a little spaced-out, and paused, simply looking ahead. Peridot reached out after a moment and patted her arm. Lapis snapped back, looking at her, coming back to reality. 

The two looked at each other for a quiet moment, before Lapis pulled out her lunch and shuffled her bare feet a little. “W-we should… probably figure out a time to meet up.”

“Where DO you live?” Peridot was interested.

“Not far from here. On a street called Barnhouse.”

Peridot’s eyes widened. “Barnhouse? That’s a block away from my street!”

“Really?” Now Lapis looked surprised. “I… guess it won’t be hard to meet after school then.”

“No…” The two looked at each other again, and Peridot felt herself grow frustrated as she tried to hold back the warmth in her cheeks. “S-should… we figure out when we should meet, or…?”

“Y-yeah, that… sounds like a good idea.” Lapis seemed to think for a moment. “I… I’m free this Friday.”

“Me… Me too.” Peridot hadn’t actually thought about what she was doing on Friday, but she never did anything on the weekends. Plus, even if she was doing anything this Friday… She would probably give it up to spend time with the other student. Even if they were just assembling a music playlist.

“Great. You can come over to my house if you want.” Lapis seemed to visibly relax, hearing her reply. With an eager nod, Peridot grinned.

“I’d love to!” She berated herself a little on the inside for being so excited, but it didn’t seem like Lapis cared too much. She met Peridot’s huge grin with a small smile. 

“...Alright. This Friday. My house.” She pulled out her lunch, and then, without saying another word, started to walk down the hall.


	9. Centipeetle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOLY COW GUYS I'M SO SORRY I DIDN'T UPDATE LAST NIGHT! I was working on an animation and I completely forgot... Also, sorry for the cliffhanger in this chapter... But trust me, next one's gonna be good. It'll be a little shorter, so I'll probably post it earlier than Friday.

When Friday came, Peridot spent the whole morning with a light, fluttery feeling in her chest as she thought about going over to Lapis’ house. Everything about it seemed incredible to her. Here she was, the student who had wanted to leave this school from the very moment she first arrived, but now she couldn’t imagine what would have happened had she not come here. She badly wanted to leave the school now, but for a completely different reason. She couldn’t wait to spend time with Lapis.

She’d had her fourth period ceramics class with the blue-haired girl, and the two talked as they gathered their things up to head to lunch. Peridot glanced briefly back into the classroom as she prepared to leave. Onion, the teacher, stared back, slowly running a paint-covered brush up his arm. Peridot shrugged.

“Excited?” Lapis asked, hauling her backpack over her shoulder. Peridot made an excited little noise.

“Of course I am!” She hopped a little on her feet. “This is going to be an excellent use of our time.” She paused, stopping her happy dance as they walked out of the classroom. “I… don’t think I’ve ever been to anybody else’s house before.”

“You haven’t?” Lapis looked shocked. “Not even during middle school?”

“I was too busy,” Peridot dismissed. She wasn’t about to admit she hadn’t had any close friends. 

“Well. Guess this’ll have to be good.” The pair walked up the steps and headed towards Ronaldo’s room. Steven was in there, crouching over a small terrarium sitting next to the window and cooing. Peridot raised an eyebrow, setting down her backpack and walking over.

“What’s in there?”

“Oh! It’s my pet beetle, Centipeetle.” Steven cooed again, making goofy faces and petting something in the terrarium. “Ooh, look at you… you’re so pretty!”

Peridot peered over the lip of the tank, Lapis looking over her shoulder. Her eyes widened.

There was a MASSIVE beetle sitting in the tank, darkly colored with a green sheen on its enormous shell. It sat passively as Steven pet its back, fawning over it as though it were a little puppy. Peridot let out a yelp and took a step or so back. “It’s huge!”

“She’s a she, and she’s just as big as she needs to be,” Steven said, pouting. He rubbed the beetle affectionately. Peridot couldn’t even express how she felt about that animal. She _hated_ bugs, and this one didn’t look too friendly.

Steven, however, seemed absolutely smitten. He looked up at the two students with hopeful eyes. “Would you mind watching her for a few minutes? I need to go get her some fruit.”

“...Yeah. Sure.” Peridot sat down on the table far away from the cage, having no intention whatsoever of watching that thing. Lapis was already seated, eating a sandwich.

“Great! I’ll be back in a bit, Centi.” Steven patted the beetle with a gentle smile, then got up and left the room, walking up the walkways in the direction of the kitchen. Peridot rolled her eyes, shivering at the thought of the bug. 

“Why is our head teacher so _weird?_ ”

“He’s always been like that,” Lapis said dismissively through a mouthful of sandwich. Peridot scooted over to her, looking down and regarding her own lunch. Chicken curry. She sighed, pulling out a fork and starting to eat.

After a few minutes, Lapis got up and looked into the tank as she finished her sandwich. Her eyes lazily slid over the contents of the cage, before they slowly widened. She looked it over again and again. Peridot, at this point, looked up at her. “What is it?”

“I can’t find the beetle,” Lapis replied, poking her fingers into the tank. “She’s… not hiding…”

 

“She isn’t?” Peridot got up, abandoning her curry on the table and looking over into the tank. Lapis was right. The beetle, which had been sitting in the middle of the cage a few minutes ago, had vanished.

The two looked at each other, and Lapis pulled her hands out of the cage. Carefully, she placed them on the table. “...What are we going to do?”

“I don’t know!” Peridot shouted, stressed. She hadn’t ever been in this situation before. She’d never even had a pet, she had no idea what do when one went missing. She started to pace around the area, glancing around wildly in an attempt to find it. She shuddered, whimpering. “It’s gonna jump out at us any minute… Oh my God, oh my God, Steven’s gonna kill us…” 

“He…! He won’t, kill us…” Lapis sounded uneasy. “Just… we, gotta find it, before he comes back…” She paused, looking around for a few minutes, before making for the door.

Peridot screeched in fear, not wanting to be left alone in the room with the bug. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” 

“Getting Amethyst! She likes handling weird stuff like this!” Lapis leaped out the door, tearing down the walkways. Peridot moaned, crawling up onto the table and staring down at the floor with trepidation. The beetle was still nowhere to be seen. 

She waited on top of the table for a minute or so, before letting out another quiet moan and crawling down. She walked towards the corner to grab her bag and get out of there before Steven came back. Amethyst would take care of this. They didn’t need her here. She glanced down as she grabbed her bag and let out a terrified scream. 

The beetle was sitting right on top of her backpack, staring up at her curiously. She leaped back onto the table with goosebumps on her arms, still shrieking at the exact moment Lapis and Amethyst ran in. Amethyst took one look at the situation and burst out laughing while Lapis snorted, slapping a hand against her thigh. Peridot felt mortified and hung her head, embarrassed. Amethyst walked past her, scooping up the beetle off her backpack and plopping it back in the terrarium unharmed, still cackling. 

“You’re really that scared of bugs?” she asked, securing the lid. Peridot crossed her arms and let out a “hmph”, growling at the floor. The two calmed down, Lapis sitting beside her and Amethyst remaining standing, putting a hand under her chin. “Hey.”

“Hey what?” she grumbled irritably.

“Hey, it’s ok you’re scared.” Amethyst patted her back, drawing her face up so she could look her in the eyes. She smiled at her gently. “You don’t have to be embarrassed about that…”

“I’m weak,” Peridot mumbled, sounding bitter. She felt Lapis’ hand on her shoulder, and shivered. Amethyst looked at her harder. 

“Hey. Listen to me.” Her expression got a little more serious. “You are not weak for being scared of a bug.” She squeezed her shoulder, firm. “We all have fears here. They don’t make us any less.” Though Peridot wasn’t sure, she could have sworn she saw Amethyst cast a quick glance to Lapis, who looked back at her wordlessly.

“I… I guess you’re right…” She fidgeted a little, and was immediately backed up.

“Yeah! If you don’t wanna touch that bug, it’s fine. We aren’t gonna blame you for it.” Amethyst gave her a reassuring grin and clapped her on the back, standing up. Lapis looked at her carefully, while Amethyst stretched. “That’s why you got us around.”

“We’ve got your back,” Lapis added, keeping her warm hand on her shoulder. Peridot felt like melting. Amethyst nodded sincerely.

“Yeah. You got that?” 

“...Yeah. I got that.”

“Good.” Amethyst straightened up fully and then started to stride away towards the door. “I’m gonna get back to my room before Steven comes back. He won’t know I was ever here.” She chuckled, then tore off down the walkways, leaving Lapis and Peridot behind in the room in silence. 

Steven came back eventually, thanking the two for taking care of his beetle and giving her a small bowl of rotting fruit. Peridot wrinkled her nose and left the room as soon as possible. She didn’t want to watch the bug eat. Lapis followed her out of the classroom, glancing down at her watch and letting out a surprised noise. 

“Shoot. It’s twelve fifty. I gotta head to class.” She looked down at Peridot carefully. “Hey… I’ll see you after sixth, ok…? I’ll meet you out by pickup.”

“Got it,” Peridot answered. She still felt embarrassed, but after Amethyst’s pep talk, there wasn’t much room left for it. Lapis smiled at her and headed into the main building with a wave, and the blond-haired girl felt her heart grow light in her chest as she watched her walk away.

Time felt like molasses for the rest of the day, and for once, Peridot found herself begging for classes to end. When Sadie finally started announcing what the homework was, she already had her bag fully packed and moved out of the room as quickly as she could, heading for pickup. Pickup was in front of the Crystal Quaker Middle School, and she sat down on a bench, tapping her toes impatiently as she scanned the surroundings for Lapis. A few minutes later, and the blue-haired girl came trotting up the path, backpack on her back. 

“Hey, Peri.” She gave her a smile. “Ready to go?” 

“Yes,” Peridot said in a low voice, throwing her backpack over her back and standing up, heading to Lapis’ car. She had no idea what she would find when she finally reached the house, but one thing was for sure. She was ready for anything.


	10. Night Over

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey friends! So, about this chapter... It got considerably longer than I thought it would, but hey, it's about Lapis and Peridot, so it was a lot of fun to write. 
> 
> I'm going on a service trip for my school for the next two weeks, so I may or may not update next Friday (I won't have any internet access, but I can probably get a friend to post it for me). Next chapter most likely won't be nearly as long as this one, but it'll be a nice little break from the more heavy stuff and just be light and fun. Enjoy reading!

The car ride back to Lapis’ house frayed Peridot’s nerves. All the landmarks as she rode back from school were the same, given that Lapis lived about a hop away from Peridot’s own home, but they were all in a different context, knowing she wasn’t going home tonight, but instead… To Lapis’ house. With Lapis. 

Lapis was mostly quiet on the car ride home, though she would occasionally exchange a soft word or two with her mother, mostly about what dinner was. Peridot barely listened. She was pretty sure they were eating pizza. They arrived at Lapis’ house, and piled out of the car. Peridot pulled her backpack from the trunk a little awkwardly and looked up at the place. 

It looked older than her own house, and was built out of wood with a roof shape that reminded her of farmhouses she had seen in illustrated books. It was a little away from the other houses, the driveway a little longer and her house set on top of a hill. The hill was covered in short grass, with cornfields off in the distance and dandelions growing around the front door. 

Lapis’ mother disappeared inside, and Lapis waited for Peridot to finish taking in the scene. “Do you like it?”

“It’s… nice.” Peridot realized that she meant her words. It might not have been as connected to civilization as she was used to, surrounded by woods and fields, but it had a distinct charm to it.

Lapis gave a soft little laugh. “Thanks. We call it The Barn. There’s only one place that’ll deliver pizza out here… But hey, it’s not bad. You want to come in?”

Peridot smiled at her. “Sure.” 

The inside of the house was a lot like the outside in terms of aesthetic. It was decorated rather like an old farmhouse, with little trinkets here and there and the walls showing the bare wood. As soon as they got through the front hall, the house opened up into a massive living room with a high ceiling, a fireplace on one of the side walls, and a big couch set in the middle of the room facing a small television set up on the windowsill. Peridot stared at the whole place in wonder. It was an incredible room. She could see the kitchen off to the side, too, a small kitchen with wooden cabinets and a stove next to the sink. Lapis dropped off her bag on the bench in the corner and walked into the kitchen, grabbing a soda from the refrigerator and offering Peridot one. She accepted, taking it and sitting down on the couch to take in her surroundings.

Lapis sat down beside her, cracking open her soda and taking a gulp. “Ah.” She kicked out her legs, putting them on the coffee table next to a pile of unused coasters. “Uh, I’ll show you where to put your bag if you want. My room’s just up the stairs.”

“I think… I’m just going to take a second to look at this.” Peridot laughed a little. “This is an awesome house.”

Lapis smiled. “Thanks. Uh, it’s been in my family a long time. I think my great-grandparents lived here.”

“Wow.” Peridot cuddled into the couch a little, nearly purring. It was unbelievably cosy. She could feel a strange feeling starting up in her chest… it felt as though she were at her own house. The fear of new places that was usually so prominent with her had faded away, gradually overtaken by the comfort that she now felt. 

The blue-haired teen next to her looked at her, a small smile on her face. “Comfy?”

“Yes.” Peridot looked over at her. “This couch is very comfy.” 

“That’s been here almost as long as the house has.” Lapis laughed. “What do you say we get your bag upstairs, then come back down here with a computer? We should at least try to work on the playlist.”

Peridot sighed and got up. “Yes, you’re right.” She followed Lapis up the creaky stairs towards her room. 

Lapis’ room was like the rest of the house: Cosy, dimly lit, and very, very wooden. She had a pair of blue curtains over the window, casting an almost ocean-like light throughout the room. Clothes lay strewn over a pair of wooden chairs in the corner and the large dresser pressed up against her wall. Lapis’ bed was large, with a blue comforter over the top and little stuffed animals sitting about down at the bottom. Peridot dropped off her bag in the corner and Lapis grabbed her computer from its charger in the wall, and the two headed back downstairs, Peridot a little reluctantly. She still wanted to see more of Lapis’ room. 

As they reached the foot of the stairs, they were greeted by a small border collie with a strange orange-ish coating on its fur, which barked excitedly and leaped onto Peridot’s legs. Peridot squeaked a little and Lapis pushed the dog back, scolding, “No, Pumpkin, we don’t do that to guests.” She pressed down on his head, but the dog’s demeanor didn’t seem to diminish at all. It still looked at Peridot, tongue lolling out in a lazy smile. Peridot couldn’t help but find the dog at least a little endearing. Lapis was looking over his fur, mumbling to herself. “He always rolls in the orange dirt outside, and he hates baths, so he’s pretty much always orange.” She patted him, huffing. “Dirty boy.”

“I like him!” Peridot reassured her quickly. She reached down to pet him behind the ears with a grin. Pumpkin the border collie panted and wagged his tail, leaning against Peridot happily. Lapis rolled her eyes and laughed a little as they made their way to the couch.

“Cool. Alright… we should probably get to work on this playlist.”

And work they did… sort of. They did end up compiling a rough list of songs that could be played at prom, but quickly realized that without suggestions, they really had no idea what to play. Neither of them really knew which songs were popular at the time, as they soon discovered. Lapis listened to music from ten and twenty years ago, and Peridot listened to all electronic, which simply wouldn’t cut it for an entire dance. Finally, as the old clock on the wall grew close to reading six, Lapis sighed and pushed back her computer. “Ok… We can’t do any more. I think we should put up some sheets for song suggestions or something. Pearl said that worked last year.”

“Good idea.” Peridot nodded, tired as well, and slid away from the computer. They heard the doorbell ring, and Lapis set her computer on the table and got up.

“Pizza’s here.” She walked out of the room to the front door, Peridot trailing behind her and looking over her shoulder. She smiled at the pizza man, giving him a wad of cash and taking the box from him. “Thanks.” The man acknowledged her and headed back to his car. 

The two brought the pizza inside, setting it on the table. Lapis grabbed a pair of plates while Peridot opened the box, her face immediately growing into one of surprised disgust as she looked in. She nearly dropped the lid.

“Lapis, is there _pineapple_ on this pizza?”

“Only on half,” Lapis replied, putting a plate beside Peridot and taking two slices of the pineapple-covered pizza. “I made sure to get you some regular old cheese.”

“How can you stand to _eat_ that?” Peridot looked at her as the blue-haired teen took a quick bite from one of the slices, cringing a little. She loaded some nice, _normal_ pizza onto her plate and followed Lapis into the living room to eat their pizza on the couch.

“It’s good, Peridot.” Lapis cast her a quick smirk before taking another slow, big bite. “Mm… Pineapple pizza. All sweet and salty...”

“That’s disgusting,” Peridot answered in a monotone, glaring ahead of her. Lapis laughed through her mouthful of pizza. 

“Suit yourself.” Lapis swallowed and picked up the remote. “Anything you wanna watch? I’m down for whatever.” 

“I don’t watch much TV,” Peridot answered, not entirely truthfully. She did watch a few select drama TV shows from Canada… Or one, in particular… but she wasn’t about to tell Lapis that.

“Neither do I.” Lapis turned on the TV, lazily flicking through channels with the volume turned down as they ate.

Peridot decided to take a large risk. “Have… you ever watched Camp Pining Hearts?”

“That old Canadian summer camp show?” Lapis looked up. “The one about like, that guy with the blond hair and his girlfriend or whatever…?”

“She is _not_ his girlfriend,” Peridot huffed. “For the relevant portion of the series, anyway.”

“Nah. I think one of my cousins used to watch it…? I’m not sure.”

“Would… you want to watch it?” Peridot ventured, playing a little with the crust of her pizza. Lapis shrugged. 

“I’d be up for it. Is it even still on TV, though?”

“Not anymore.” Peridot sighed. “Oh, oh, but we can watch it on your computer though!” She quickly glanced over at the other teenager. “If… you’d be ok with that…?”

“Yeah, sure.” Lapis put down her plate of pizza and pulled her computer back into her lap, motioning for Peridot to pull it up. 

Peridot found her favorite website to watch it on in a minute or so, quickly deleting all the pop-up ads that came with it and clicking on the first episode. “Ok, ok,” she rambled, full-screening it. “This is just the pilot, so it might be a little boring at first… But trust me, it gets way better.” She guessed that Lapis would watch maybe the first one or two episodes, then get bored. 

She did not expect that they would be there until midnight, eating pizza and popcorn with Lapis falling into the habit of yelling angrily at Percy in nearly every scene.

“Oh, come on! Pierre’s right there, why can’t you just- Go comfort him or _something!_ ” Lapis waved a napkin through the air in frustration, spitting a little.

“That’s what I’ve been saying!” Peridot yelled through a mouthful of food in response, gesturing wildly at the screen. “He’s clueless to every other person in the entire camp!”

“Why can’t he pick up on anything?” Lapis sighed, exasperated as the episode ended. “Geez, what time is it…? She looked at the clock in the wall, squinting as she tried to read it in the dark. “Oh shoot, twelve thirty.”

Peridot followed her gaze. She put her plate down onto the coffee table. “Uh… sorry for making you watch this until the middle of the night.”

“It’s no problem!” Lapis quickly dismissed, laughing a little. “This is _incredible_. I had no idea.” She leaned back into the couch, closing her computer. “We should probably stop watching it now, though.”

“Probably a good idea.” Peridot lay back with her. Her heart sped up a little as her bare arm touched Lapis’. The two were lying next to each other, cushioned in the soft material of Lapis’ couch.

Lapis stared up at the ceiling in silence, before looking out the large windows to the starry night sky spread out over the fields. She then looked back at Peridot, just as quietly. Peridot looked back.

“...It’s nice, having you over,” Lapis said softly.

“I-it’s nice, being here.” Peridot’s heart beat faster.

Lapis leaned into her a little more. “...I don’t have people over too often. I kinda forgot what it was like. It’s actually… fun.”

“When did you have people over before?” Peridot looked at her quietly. Lapis stiffened up a little, then, just before Peridot had fully registered it, relaxed. 

“Oh, just some kids back in elementary school sometimes.” Her gaze had turned to the wall. Peridot looked up at the ceiling.

“...You know, I think I’m really happy I came here.” 

“Came to my house?”

“Oh, no- Well, t-that too, but… I mean, to school. This school. I mean… I got to meet all of you. I got to actually… make friends.”

“Didn’t you have friends at your old school?” Lapis kept her gaze at the wall, though she would occasionally look back at Peridot. The blond-haired teenager shook her head.

“Not really. I mean… I guess I knew a few kids. And I knew all the teachers. There was this one teacher I had for language arts… Her name was Ms. Holly. She was terrible.” She thought for a moment. “Or, at least, very strict. And distracted.”

“Why?” Lapis mumbled sleepily.

“My language class was me, two other normal kids, and the entire lacrosse team.” Peridot laughed a little. “And the lacrosse team were all super good friends… They talked constantly. They called themselves “The Fam” and had weird code names for each other. And they loved to torture Ms. Holly.” She continued to snicker quietly. “I barely learned anything in that class. She yelled at them the whole time, every day.”

Lapis snorted a little at that. “That sounds really funny…”

“It was.” She sighed. “I’m glad I got out of there, though. This place is funnier.”

“You can say that again.” The blue-haired teenager reached out, brushing her hand with her own a little. Peridot jolted, then slowly reached out, letting their fingers touch. The two were quiet for a moment, before slowly, their fingers intertwined.

It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence that they sat in. That feeling Peridot that had earlier was back, the strange comfort she felt, just being here. Her and Lapis. Together. Alone at night, in a dark living room, with a sky full of stars outside.

After a while, Lapis spoke up again. “It’s always been like that, you know. Funny.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. No matter what… unit you’re in, or whatever. Even the elementary school’s funny.” A brief bit of silence. “In some ways.”

Peridot was quiet again, a question burning in her mind. She wondered if it was alright to say… She had been waiting to ask.

“...Why did you leave?”

She felt Lapis stiffen again, and feared for another moment that she’d made a mistake. “...Why did I leave the school?”

“...Yeah.”

She heard Lapis let out a quiet sigh. “...I had a… complicated, relationship with one of the other students. She used to bully me… And then, one day, when we were out by the pond near the elementary school… I just… snapped at her.”

Peridot stared directly ahead, not daring to look at Lapis, even if she could barely see her in the dim light. Lapis continued.

“I… hit her so hard that she fell over. And then I tried to drag her in the pond and hold her under. She almost drowned.” Lapis was quiet. “I was in second grade. I had no idea what I was doing. I was just... so angry.”

Peridot was shocked. Things made a little more sense now. 

Lapis rolled over, looking at Peridot with a blank gaze. “...You probably think I’m a monster, now.”

“...I don’t.”

“Really?” Lapis kept looking at her, blinking. Peridot shook her head again. 

“No. Not at all.” She could feel Lapis’ hand in hers, warm. “...Sometimes we do things we really regret. Or things we don’t understand the full meaning of at the time.” She looked ahead, then over to Lapis, meeting her eyes in the darkness. “And, we might hate ourselves for it… But that doesn’t help at all. You have to have forgiveness, for yourself, so you can work to make yourself better and move past it.” She felt a little self-conscious after having given a little speech, but Lapis didn’t stop staring at her. The two kept looking at each other, and Peridot couldn’t shake the warm feeling she felt just being with her. 

Lapis finally replied to her after a bit. “That’s… really deep.”

“...I try.” Peridot fidgeted a bit, but was stilled by a gentle squeeze of Lapis’ hand to her’s. The two remained in silence for a while longer. 

When Peridot finally started to feel fidgety again, she felt Lapis suddenly wrap her arms around her. She gasped a little. 

“...Thank you.”

Slowly, she wrapped her arms around Lapis. “...You’re welcome.”

They remained in the embrace for just a bit longer, before disengaging. Lapis sat up, a little shakily. “W-we… should probably get to bed now.”

“Good idea.” Peridot followed her after a moment, picking up their dishes and placing them in the sink before they both headed up the stairs. They brushed their teeth and used the bathroom before both retreated to Lapis’ room. 

Peridot looked at the window from Lapis’ bed as she tried to fall asleep. The blue curtains were parted just the slightest bit. She could see the stars high above them through the part. She relaxed a little, seeing the great scattering of lights on the black canvas of endless space. Space had always helped calm her down.

As she lay in the bed, feeling the gentle warmth of Lapis near her and seeing the little stars out the window, she slowly let herself drift off to sleep. All the turmoil of the day melted away. She was just here now. Just here, safe, in the comfort of Lapis’ room.


	11. Spring Break

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUYS I'M SO SORRY I DIDN'T UPDATE THIS YESTERDAY I GOT BUSY
> 
> Anyways... I'm back! It's so good to update again! This chapter, Peridot takes a little break from the madness of school and spends it with Garnet. This is another sort of cool-down chapter, because next chapter's going to have a lot of Lapis and Peridot in it again. Have fun reading!

Spring break had come a while after Peridot and Lapis’ sleepover, and yet when she was finally released from school for the week, she was still reeling. She and Lapis had woken up in a tangle, Lapis snoring loudly and Peridot’s hair an absolute mess. They’d had pancakes, and Peridot had gone home. It still seemed like such a strange experience. She’d thought everything about that would have been awkward, but… it felt so natural. She still couldn’t shake the warm feeling she felt when she was around Lapis now.

Despite that, she was looking forward to a little week on her own. School was good, and her friends were good, but despite all that she was still very much an introvert, and an introvert deprived of some much-need alone time at that. When she got home, she went to her room and relaxed, relaxing to enjoy a long night of just sitting at her computer, playing video games, and editing Wikipedia articles until she fell asleep.

Later that night, as she was boredly checking through her notifications in a lull between matches online, she found a text from none other than Garnet, her fellow ‘advisee’. She hopped over into her messaging app and looked at it. 

**Garnet (Sent at 9:45 PM)**

_hey, you want to hang out at all this week? i’m free and my moms are going out of town_

Peridot blinked at the text a little. Hanging out with Garnet? She had to admit, that didn’t sound too bad. She still didn’t know all that much about the other student, but she did appreciate her quite a bit. Besides, she was cool. She began to type a response.

**Peridot (Sent at 10:27 PM)**

_Sure. I think I can do any day this week. My mom won’t mind._

Immediately after, she got a response. _Cool. How about Wednesday?_ She took a second to think this over, then nodded to herself. Wednesday didn’t sound like a problem. Yes… She had wanted to be alone this week. But one day with Garnet wouldn’t hurt. Besides, she really should be spending time with some of her friends. 

She typed up another text. _That works. See you Wednesday._ With that, and with Garnet not seeming to have anything more to say, she went back to her computer. 

The days before Wednesday went by quickly, and soon, she was waiting outside in the morning for Garnet to arrive. After a bit of waiting, an old black Volkswagen pulled up in front of her house. The other student stepped out of the driver’s seat. She had her reflective glasses on with a pair of jeans and a tank top. “Hey, Peridot,” she called, smiling at her.

“Good morning, Garnet,” she answered, hopping down the steps to meet her. Garnet met up with her and the two went inside, heading to the kitchen.

Once in the kitchen, Garnet took a seat down at the table. “Thanks for letting me come over here. My house was getting too quiet.” She stretched out, relaxing as Peridot took a seat beside her.

“No problem at all. May I ask where your parents are?”

“Oh, they’re out at a conference in Empire City.” 

“What kind of conference?” Peridot found herself a little interested. She didn’t know what Garnet’s parents did, but she’d heard Pearl and Amethyst talking about them once or twice, and that seemed significant enough.

“Teaching conference.” Garnet adjusted her glasses. “They go to a bunch of them.”

“Oh, what do they teach?”

Garnet looked at her, a little oddly. “You know what they teach.”

Peridot returned her odd look, confused. “...No, I don’t.”

Garnet continued looking at her, before she slowly grinned. “Wait… We never told you…”

“Told me what?” Peridot was even more confused now. 

“Ruby and Sapphire are my parents.” Garnet chuckled a little. Peridot was blank for a moment, processing the information, before her jaw dropped. 

“No, you did not tell me that!” She sat up quickly in her chair, the poor piece of furniture squeaking across the floor. “Ruby and Sapphire are your parents?! I- I knew they were a couple, but-”

“Yes, they’re my moms.” Garnet smiled. Peridot took another moment, then let out a quick exhale.

“Well. Ehm, that is… some interesting information.” She rested back a little in her chair. “Isn’t it strange to have your parents teaching you?”

“You get used to it.” Garnet shrugged a little. “It isn’t bad.” She pursed her lips a little, reconsidering her answer. “Mm...Except when they talk about me in class.”

“Huh. I don’t think I’ve ever heard either of them talk about you.”

Garnet let out a little chuckle at that. “Trust me, it happens. A year ago, Mom kept talking about how I had two girlfriends to her entire gym class of freshmen.” She wiped her forehead, exasperated but humored. “Said if I had enough grit to handle both of them, then they had enough grit to play some field hockey.”

Peridot let out a little snort at that. “Oh my gosh, that is embarrassing,” she murmured. Garnet laughed good-naturedly with her.

“If you think that’s bad, you should hear what Mama says about me to her algebra students.” She sighed. “She had to teach sex ed one year too, and she kept telling stories about being a parent who tried to be positive and understanding of their child.” She leaned back into her chair, and Peridot cringed.

“I think if my mom did that, I’d quit school.”

“It’s expected,” Garnet answered with a shrug. “And… it’s alright. Amethyst thinks it’s funny, and Pearl doesn’t care much. So neither do I.”

Peridot mulled this over for a moment. “...You have such a nice relationship with them.” She shuffled her feet a bit. “I… don’t think I’ve ever seen anybody in a… it’s called polyamorous relationship, right?”

“Right,” Garnet affirmed. “It’s just like any other relationship. You watch out for your partners, respect, and communicate.” Peridot drank it all in, hanging onto her every word as the tall student continued. “You don’t fight over who gets who… You just love everyone equally.” She smiled a little. “There’s so much love to go around.”

“There sure is,” Peridot answered quietly. 

Garnet gave her a look of regard, before she smiled again. “Speaking of relationships… I’ve been meaning to check in on you and Lazuli.”

“L-Lazuli?!” Peridot’s cheeks immediately turned dark red. “I- I don’t know what you’re t-talking about-”

“Peridot.” The other student seemed even more amused now. “You don’t have to defend yourself. You seem to like her quite a bit.” 

“I…. I do like her. Quite a bit.” Peridot’s cheeks went darker. “I-I really just… it’s so weird!” She let out a nervous laugh, hoping to the stars above that this classmate of hers would understand her situation. “I… I just feel like… like I’d do anything for her, and… she’s so beautiful Garnet, and so kind, and oh stars I don’t know what to do…”

Garnet started to chuckle. “You’re head over heels.” She patted Peridot’s shoulder reassuringly. “That’s not a bad thing, though. Love is such a good thing.”

“L-love?”

“Yes. In all forms you feel it, love is good.” She patted her again. “Whether it be familial… or friendly… or romantic.” Her voice had dipped lower, and she seemed thoughtful as she paused. “Seems as though you’ve got quite the romantic case, though.”

“...I do,” Peridot admitted, hanging her head in shame and letting her face grow hot. Garnet rubbed her back. 

“Hey. Liking someone is nothing to be ashamed of.” She looked down, trying to catch Peridot’s eyes. “You can’t help it, after all. And… you never know what’ll happen.”

“You… you don’t?”

 

“Of course not!” Garnet smiled at her gently. “Anything can happen. And, you two do get along quite well together. If you end up in a relationship, I’d approve.”

Peridot blushed a little at that. “...Thanks, Garnet.”

“You’re welcome,” Garnet smiled politely. “So, what is there to do?”


	12. The Attic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey ya'll! I had a bit of fun with this chapter. Though this isn't directly based off a true story, as a lot of other things in this fanfiction are, it's tied into my experience on the prom committee for my own school. I hope you enjoy reading it!

Spring break disappeared in a second, just as all breaks for the school did. Peridot had gotten used to it by now. However, despite the end of the year bearing down on the student body like a freight train, the blond-haired sophomore was barely thinking about the final tests that she’d have to take in the last weeks. No, instead, she was thinking about something much more pressing to her: prom.

Oh, how she regretted signing up for this committee. They’d narrowed down the playlist a fair bit, but with only four people making up the entire group that meant that they had other jobs besides that. They had been out to the Keystone on multiple occasions to map out the area they’d have at their disposal and to figure out parking. They’d had to mathematically figure out how much food they needed and could buy with their budget from the charming little diner next door (which actually didn’t bother Peridot that much, she was a fan of math). They’d even rented out a photobooth for the students to use when they weren’t dancing, which was turning into a little more of a hassle than any of them had bargained for. Nevertheless, all four of them were working full-time to ensure that the dance would indeed happen. 

It was about a week away from the dance, and Peridot could feel the heat. They still needed to sort through the massive pile of decorations that the school had in storage to see if any of it would be of relevant use. They had at least decided to take out all the decorations that lunch period, to be brought to Mr. Smiley’s room so that they could have a proper look at it. 

When Peridot had asked where exactly the decorations were being stored, Pearl had responded, “Oh, it’s in the attic.”

Peridot hadn’t known about any attic in the school. The entire place appeared to just be a precarious pile of buildings spilling up a hill, and she was a little curious as to where it could possibly be. The entire prom committee met in Mr. Smiley’s room that lunch period to go to the attic, and the young student actually found herself a little interested in what was going to happen next.

Pearl lead the small team down the hall, away from the main cluster of classrooms and towards the part of the school that spread across the hill towards the woods. Peridot only went down this hallway to reach her most far-spread classroom, belonging to Sapphire. It was a long hallway, with teacher’s offices leading off on either side. They eventually reached the little area at the end of the hallway, where the ceiling grew higher and a few rows of lockers ran along the walls outside of Sapphire’s room. Pearl stopped the crew there, going into a small closet next to a row of lockers.

Peridot didn’t see why they were there. She leaned over to Lapis. “Is the attic in the closet?”

Lapis looked back over to her and shook her head. “No, it’s right up there.” She pointed above the hallway they had just emerged from, and Peridot followed her finger, her mouth opening a little in surprise. There were a pair of doors set into the wall a foot or so above where the hallway opened up into the area, the tops just brushing against the wooden ceiling. Peridot wondered how in the world she hadn’t noticed those doors before, and then wondered how in the world they were supposed to get up.

Luckily, Pearl emerged from the closet carrying a ladder. “Alright, everyone, be safe going up!” she called, setting up the ladder just below the doors. She climbed up it, unlocking the doors with a key from her pocket and throwing them open, entering the attic space. The other three members of the committee followed her. Peridot sniffed a little disdainfully as she stepped into the stuffy area, then took a second to look around.

It really wasn’t a large attic at all, just a small space filled with strange items she would have never imagined to see in school storage. It looked like an old lady’s closet. The attic was filled with old clothes, the occasional small stuffed animal, various pieces of furniture in various states of disrepair, and in the corner, a collection of balloons, streamers, banners and backdrops. Pearl immediately made a beeline for the corner, wincing a little as she ducked under some spiderwebs. “Oh, I don’t like it much in here. Let’s get out soon.”

Rainbow, Lapis, and Peridot were eager to comply. There wasn’t a light in the attic, and Peridot felt a little uncomfortable walking around when she couldn’t clearly see what was under her feet. They started to take out the collection of old prom supplies, each person carrying a handful of things down the ladder to Mr. Smiley’s room. As the two gathered up their loads of supplies, Peridot and Lapis made small talk to pass the time. 

“We’re probably going to use all of this, even if we don’t need it,” Lapis grumbled as she dropped off one of the last loads in Mr. Smiley’s room, Peridot beside her. “We blew the whole budget on the venue, so we can’t buy any new decorations.”

“I still don’t see why we don’t just host it here,” Peridot replied, dropping off her own load and starting to follow Lapis down the long hall. Lapis shrugged as they walked.

“I dunno. I think it’s kind of a luxury for students to get out of here, honestly. They look forward to it.” They reached the ladder, and both climbed up it. They had fully emptied the pile of things in the corner, and Peridot sighed, already turning to go back down. However, Lapis grabbed her shoulder.

“...Hey, wait. I think there’s something over there.”

 

Peridot followed her gaze. The other student was looking at a strange, darker area of the attic, where there was what looked like a separate part of the space. Peridot shivered a little.

“Uhm… It doesn’t look like we’re really supposed to go over there. It’s around a corner, we won’t be able to see.”

Lapis reached into her pocket, fidgeting around. “Uh… you have your phone?”

Peridot shook her head. “No, it’s in my backpack.”

“Do you have anything else we can use as a flashlight?”

Peridot gave a little thought to that. “Well… I do have my iPod.” She pulled it out of her back pocket, turning it on so that she and Lapis could use it as a temporary light. She followed Lapis around the corner hesitantly, holding out the iPod so that they could both see in the separate room. However, as she entered, she heard Lapis groan.

“Ugh. It’s just all cabinets and stuff. I thought we could find something else in here.” Lapis gestured. There were indeed a few filing cabinets, mostly lined up on one side of the room along with other dusty furniture. Peridot sighed in disappointment. She heard a faint clicking noise from the main part of the attic, but assumed it to just be the noisy air conditioning turning off.

“I guess we should go back to Smiley’s room, then,” Peridot shrugged. “It doesn’t look like there’s anything in here.”

“You’re right.” Lapis followed Peridot out in the main attic. However, no sooner had they taken their first few steps into the main area did both realize there was something very, very off.

There was absolutely no light shining through the open doors of the attic. This was because the doors, in fact, weren’t open at all. They were closed.

The two students stared at the closed doors for a few moments. Lapis walked up to them after a moment, bracing one hand on the wall and pushing as hard as she could with the other. They didn’t budge. They’d been locked.

Slowly, the other student stepped back from the doors. “...Shit.”

“Shit what?” Peridot was beginning to feel very, very nervous. “What?”

“I think Pearl might have locked us in on accident,” Lapis answered quietly. She pushed hard on the doors again. They still didn’t budge. She inhaled sharply.

Peridot was right by her shoulder in seconds. “H-how? How are we going to get out?!”

Lapis’ hand locked on her shoulder. “W-we… We break it open.”

“But we’ll fall like ten feet! And it’s school property!”

“Then… we call out for help.”

That did seem like the best option at this point. Peridot looked at Lapis, and Lapis looked back at her. On the count of three, both screamed out their own versions of, “HELP!”

Nobody answered. Nobody at all.

Peridot gulped. “This… this is in the part of the school nobody ever goes in, right…?” She was answered by Lapis letting out a miserable groan.

“They have to realize that they left us behind sometime.” She sat back. “If they don’t come and get us in about ten minutes, we’ll come up with another plan, but Pearl has to notice. There’s no way she wouldn’t.”

As nervous as Peridot felt, Lapis was right. She nodded with her, sitting down beside her in front of the only source of light now in the room. She’d stuffed her iPod back into her pocket in the panic, and it made her feel uncomfortable in the dark attic to not be near the light of the door, anyway. 

She heard a soft scuffing, and turned to see Lapis pulling a hand off the floor to wipe her hair away from her face, puffing a little. “It’s too hot in here.”

Peridot, whose own hair was sticking to the back of her neck and whose flannel felt uncomfortably thick on her arms, answered with a dry, “Ditto.” She pulled off her flannel, setting it in a messy pile beside her. She felt a strange little jolt when she saw Lapis doing the same with her own long-sleeved shirt. The girl looked over at her slowly, eyes flicking over her in the dim light.

“Well, hello there, Peri,” she nearly purred. Peridot almost choked. 

“You can’t do that!” she sputtered out. “That’s- that’s too-”

“Too what?” Lapis gave her a curious gaze. 

She crossed her arms. “Too… flirty.” 

“Well… who says I wasn’t trying to flirt with you…?”

Peridot opened her mouth to retort, but thought about Lapis’ sentence and shut up very, very quickly. Her face bloomed dark red. Lapis chuckled a little in the quiet of the attic, but Peridot could see in the dim light that she certainly had a bit of color in her cheeks as well.

“Let’s just… focus on hoping Pearl finds us,” Peridot mumbled, her voice a little more squeaky than usual.

“Right.”

They were in there for a few more minutes, just sitting silently in the sweltering attic. Lapis let out a groan, rubbing her forehead. “Argh. Can’t we just… Fall out the door and break our legs?”

“You know that would be a bad idea,” Peridot responded tiredly. 

Lapis grumbled. “I know.” 

Peridot tried to lie back on the flannels they’d placed on the floor. She winced a little at the plywood under her, scratching slightly against her bare arms. She sat back up, trying to think of something to talk about.

“...How much did you actually know about the high school, before you came here?” She finally settled on asking. She was still quite curious about Lapis’ past here, but didn’t want to pry too much. Thankfully, it seemed as though Lapis didn’t care too much about that question.

“A lot, actually. I kept in contact with Pearl a little while I was being homeschooled.” She leaned against the wall, which creaked with her. “She told me a lot her freshman year. That’s why I know anything, to be honest.”

“Is the elementary school anything like the high school?”

Lapis laughed. “Not really. The elementary school is normal. This place is just weird.”

Peridot laughed a little with her. “Glad to know somebody else thinks that.”

“It’s weird, but… it’s good, you know?” She played with the hem of her tank top. “I don’t really know how to explain it, but… it feels like I never really left. There’s something about this place that just kind of… captures you. It kind of feels like home.” She gave a quiet chuckle. “Even if bad things happened. I… I used to hate it here, but now… Now it just feels like home.”

Peridot listened to her in silence. When she was done, she fidgeted a bit. “...Wow.”

Lapis looked over at her quietly. “You, uh… do you feel the same way at all?”

The blond student thought this over. “I… I don’t really know yet. I’ve been here less than a year…” She thought a little more. “...But, you know? It does feel different. It does have a different feeling from other schools.”

Lapis smiled a little in the dark. “...I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who thinks that, either.”

They both sat in silence, just listening to each other breathe and hearing the occasional creak of the old building. It was a peaceful silence, and one that Peridot found herself enjoying. She liked this. She liked being around Lapis, even if they were in an overheated attic in near-darkness.

She suddenly heard footsteps scampering down the hall, accompanied by a frantic voice that sounded like… Pearl, cursing…? Lapis sat up immediately, listening to the sound.

“Lapis? Peridot?! I’m so sorry, are you in there?!”

“Yeah, we’re in here,” Lapis replied dryly. “As we have been.”

“I’m so sorry!” Came the outburst. “Oh my goodness, I suppose I wasn’t thinking clearly- I thought you had already gone back to the room-”

“It’s fine,” Peridot broke in, wincing as she felt sweat dripping down the back of her neck. “Can you just… get us out?”

“Of course.” They heard the sound of the ladder scraping against the floor, and a few moments later, the doors were unlocked and thrown open, Pearl peering into the attic in a panic. Lapis and Peridot both waved to her, and her face relaxed. “Oh my goodness, I was worried. I thought you would be in a panic, being stuck up here.”

“It wasn’t that bad. We had each other,” Lapis answered with a shrug. Peridot’s face darkened again, and she chuckled nervously. 

“Well, I’m glad for that. Now… we have about ten minutes until class starts. Do you both want to head back to the room now to help us sort?”

The two looked at each other. They really didn’t feel like they wanted to spend time with more prom things… But hey, it was only ten minutes. Lapis shrugged, and Peridot nodded. “Sure, that sounds fine.”

“Excellent.” They went down the ladder, Pearl locking the doors after triple-checking this time. Peridot felt ok going down the hall, even if the chore wasn’t going to be fun. At least she had Lapis with her. That would make it fun.


	13. Prom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHHHHHHHH HELLO I AM BACK
> 
> I'M SORRY THIS TOOK A MILLION YEARS, I HAVEN'T EDITED IT OR ANYTHING SO HERE'S HOPING IT'S GOOD
> 
> ENJOY GUYS

Peridot couldn’t believe it. After the months of planning, the days she’d put up with Pearl’s meticulousness, the hot, _hot_ attic, it was finally happening. Prom was finally happening.

It still wasn’t here, but it was the day she had been waiting for. That was all that mattered. She kept reminding herself over and over, _one more day. One more day_. And now that she was driving to the Keystone, nervously smoothing back her hair and adjusting her glasses, it seemed as though it really was true.

She arrived at the Keystone a little bit past eleven, hopping out of the car and thanking her mother for driving her before walking up the small set of stairs into the building. As soon as she opened the doors, she was almost knocked straight back out by a brown whirlwind of hair and loose tank top.

“PERI!”

Peridot squealed, gripping onto Amethyst, who had nearly sent her down the steps again with her excitement. The husky girl shook her back and forth, laughing. “I knew you were on the committee, but I thought you were gonna skip the setup like a square.”

She adjusted her glasses, huffing. “I can’t skip the setup. I wouldn’t get my ticket discount.” She suddenly realized something. “Wait, why are you here?”

“I’m a volunteer, dude.” Amethyst stuck out her tongue. “Pearl wanted me to come. Garnet was gonna come too, but she had to help Ruby and Sapphire do something.”

“Oh.” Peridot embarrassedly fixed her shirt, which had been hiked up as Amethyst had hugged her. “Well, it’s good to know we have extra help. Where’s setup?”

“I’ll show you.” Pearl appeared in the doorway behind Amethyst, a small smile on her face. “It’s good to see you here, we have everyone now.” She stepped back inside, Amethyst and Peridot eagerly following her in. 

Peridot was lead to a room in the center of the little motel. It looked as though everything had already been set up. Rainbow was in the corner adjusting the lights, while Amethyst quickly ran over to the photobooth they had rented to finish working on it. It seemed as though there were a few other student volunteers as well - most likely invited by Rainbow. Alex was hanging up streamers next to Malachite, who was staying near her side, and Sardonyx was up at the DJ’s station on the computer. Peridot also noticed another student who she had seen walking with Rainbow to her dance classes, a ridiculously tall junior named Opal, sitting next to Sardonyx.

“Looks like everyone really pitched in,” Peridot murmured. Her thoughts were interrupted as Pearl eagerly replied. 

“They did! I did ask everyone in our class individually to come help.” She pursed her lips. “It seems not everyone made it, but hey! We have enough help.” She walked into the center of the room, taking in the whole scene. “Peridot, I think we’re mostly good, but if you could go up and help Sardonyx with the sound hardware, that would be nice.”

“Ok.” Peridot could do electronics. She walked over to the other side of the room and climbed up next to Sardonyx, who greeted her with a grin.

“Oh, so here’s Peridot! Our sound technician, if Pearl was correct.” Opal had leaned over, and was giving her a small smile as well. Sardonyx clasped her hands. “The playlist is all set up, we just need some help connecting the computer to the speakers. Do you know how to do that?”

“Do I?” Peridot supposed she would be a relatively crummy sound technician if she couldn’t. She set to work hooking up the wires and finding the speakers, with Opal and Sardonyx behind her taping down the extension cords that ran in paths across the floor.

She was testing the speaker connection when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She looked behind her and almost dropped the cord she was holding.

“Hey,” said Lapis, standing back after getting her attention.

“Hi there.” Peridot couldn’t help but grin. “I wondered where you were.”

“Pearl had me setting up the ticket table.” She brushed back her hair. “You wouldn’t believe how hard it was to set up the lights around it. Every time I taped one down, another would fall off.”

Peridot winced. “That’s terrible!”

Lapis laughed a little. “It’s fine. So… am I seeing you at prom tonight?”

“W-well, my ticket being half off wouldn’t really matter if I wasn’t going.” Peridot blushed lightly. Lapis snorted. 

“Good point. My mom’s waiting for me outside, so I gotta go, but I’ll see you tonight. I just wanted to say hello.” She stretched and walked towards the door. “Bye, Peri.”

Peridot was left next to the speaker and the cord she was holding, watching Lapis exit. “...See you later, Lapis.”

The blond-haired student spent the rest of the afternoon, once she returned home, anxiously preparing for prom. She couldn’t believe herself. She’d originally thought she was going to go to the dance in a t-shirt and jeans to prove a point, but now she was looking through her closet, trying to find that nice collared green shirt she’d worn to her middle school graduation and a pair of pants to match. She didn’t know why she suddenly cared so much. It just seemed important to her that she looked her best.

She eventually pulled out the shirt she was looking for and found a nice pair of black dress pants to go with it. She also tracked down a small bow tie she’d had in the back of her closet for years and decided to wear that as well, berating herself silently for never getting a proper tie. She was adjusting the bow tie in the mirror of her bathroom when her phone beeped with a text from Garnet.

**Garnet (Sent at 4:53 PM)**

_what time do you want me to come over?_

Peridot thought this over. She’d asked Garnet to come pick her up, as her father was out of town and her mother had a party she was going to. Originally it had just been for transport, but now she was actually looking forward to seeing Garnet, and wanted to hang out with her a little before they entered the social arena that was the high school prom.

**Peridot (Sent at 4:55 PM)**

_At eight, please._

She received a confirmation from Garnet and smiled. Prom started at nine, so this would be a nice opportunity. It certainly didn’t take an hour to get to the Keystone.

Indeed, around eight, Garnet’s car showed up outside her house and the tall teenager stepped out, smiling as she saw Peridot waiting at the door in her dress clothes. Garnet had dressed up quite nicely as well, with a black tuxedo and a deep purple tie. She walked up to Peridot, her dark glasses reflecting the evening light as she looked down at her.

“You clean up nice.”

Peridot blushed a little, giggling. “T-thanks. You too. And, uh, thanks for getting me.”

 

“It’s not a problem.” Garnet shrugged, coming in. “Are you excited?”

“Am I?” The student laughed nervously. She wiped her forehead off. “Yes.” She smiled a little giddily, swinging her arms. “Are you?”

“Am I?” Garnet echoed, smiling good-naturedly. “Of course. Prom is wonderful. I’ve had a great time both times I’ve been.”

Peridot sighed a little. She by no standards was a social butterfly, but hearing that an introverted person like Garnet could have fun raised her spirits a little.

Though, privately, she suspected it might be due to her girlfriends being there.

They left soon enough for the Keystone, Garnet driving down the road in the Volkswagen with her glasses still on. Peridot, sitting in the passenger seat, wondered how in the world she could see with dusk upon them, but Garnet didn’t seem to have any trouble, so she didn’t question it. Besides, she was thinking about other things far from Garnet’s driving skills. Things with blue hair.

The outside of the Keystone was lit with fairy lights, just how Pearl had set it up. Garnet and Peridot walked up the stairs and to the room, turning in their tickets outside and entering. Peridot could hear the boom and the smash of the music outside the room, but as soon as they opened the door, she was hit with a wall of pure noise.

There were so many students packed into that room that, which despite having seemed quite large when they were setting it up, now seemed tiny. It was also remarkably hot inside the room, though Peridot wasn’t surprised by that. Thermal laws of science had to apply when there were upwards of a hundred students packed into an insulated confined space.

Garnet spotted Pearl and Amethyst immediately and went over to greet them. Despite her slight discomfort with the heat and noise, Peridot begrudgingly watched the three of them get together. They looked like quite the trio, all of them dressed in tuxedos, though Pearl and Amethyst’s ties were peach and red respectively.

She stayed close to the walls as she navigated the room, eventually stopping by the concessions table and pouring herself a small cup of punch. Upon closer inspection, it seemed to smell ok, so she took a sip. Not the best punch she’d had, but it wasn’t terrible.

The blond haired student sat down in one of the chairs lining the walls of the room, watching the dance floor. Many students had already gone out onto the floor and were happily performing their moves. Peridot stared on in shock as she watched the baseball crew, a quintet of curly-haired dusky skinned girls, perform what looked like an elaborate cheerleader pyramid, nearly touching the ceiling. Ruby was over there in seconds, yelling at them to get down before they accidently set off the fire alarm.

There were other dancers too. The fast song ended, and a slower one began, one Peridot recognized from when she had worked on the playlist. A few of the school’s couples grouped up to dance. Pearl and Amethyst swayed together while Garnet grabbed a cup of juice from concessions. Ruby and Sapphire held hands in the corner. Peridot was even a little surprised to see Alex and Malachite dancing together, Malachite’s head resting gently against Alex’s shoulder as they moved back and forth.

She saw a short-haired figure approaching her, and smiled gently. Lapis sat down next to her, wiping off her forehead with a napkin. 

“This is more insane than Pearl described to me last year,” she said, a note of interest in her voice. She was impressed. Peridot nodded eagerly.

“The dances at Diamond High were nothing like this. Nobody ever showed up. This is the first dance I’ve been to in years.”

Lapis laughed lightly. “I can say the same.” She stretched out her arms, letting her light blue sundress straps fall fully onto her shoulders. 

“So… I guess neither of us really know what to do at these things.” Peridot smiled weakly. She fidgeted with her dress shirt, trying to make it look as though it hadn’t spent the last two years stuck in a corner of her closet. Luckily, it was dark, and it was difficult to see the wrinkles in the fabric. 

“I think just watching them is good enough.” Lapis observed the other dancers quietly. “That, and the food.”

“Food is good,” Peridot agreed, taking a sip of her punch. Lapis nodded, then stood up. 

“Next song should be starting soon. I’m going to go find Amethyst and see if she wants to raid the brownie platter.”

“Good plan.” Peridot was left alone in her seat again as Lapis walked off. She took a deep breath, sighing. 

The prom seemed to move by very, very quickly. Peridot got up a few times to dance with her friends, finding them to be nice enough company. There was one particularly popular eighties song that played at one point that had Amethyst screaming and pulling Peridot out onto the dance floor into a clump with Pearl, Garnet, Jenny, and a few others. The wild girl got down immediately, and Peridot found herself being swung around and dancing wildly with the rest of the group as the music played.

Once that song was over, Peridot excused herself to go use the bathroom.

She left the room and rushed to the bathroom, sighing as the door closed behind her. The music was still audible, but pleasantly muffled, and there was no grinding chatter of other students. She looked in the mirror and almost choked. Her skin was bright red, her forehead and neck covered in sweat, and her hair an absolute mess. 

She quickly washed off her face, trying to rub away the red with a paper towel and failing. She sighed. It was just too hot. The Maryland summer heat had penetrated even the air-conditioned walls of the motel. 

She soon excused herself, stepping out of the bathroom and almost running into Lapis.

The student jumped and stumbled backward, apologizing, but Lapis seemed to not mind at all. She stumbled over her words a little bit. 

“It’s too hot. It’s too hot. It’s so hot in there.”

“Tell me about it,” Peridot groaned. “The bathroom isn’t much better.”

“I’m going outside, then.” She turned around, walking towards the door. Peridot dashed after her quickly, yelping. 

“W-wait, could I come with you? I’m hot too.”

“Sure.” Lapis waited for her to catch up before they both made a break for the entrance to the motel, bursting out onto the concrete steps that led down to the parking lot. Peridot panted, sighing happily as she felt the night air through her sweaty dress shirt. Lapis seemed just as pleased, her tensed body relaxing.

“Much better,” she hummed, moving to sit down on a step. Peridot followed, sitting next to her. To her surprise, Lapis moved closer. She turned her head, blinking at the other, and the blue-haired girl looked back.

They stared there for a few moments before Peridot couldn’t help but nervously chuckle. Lapis laughed as well, just as awkwardly, and Peridot finally felt something in her stretch and break. She didn’t want to wait any longer.

“Lapis, I like you,” she said quietly.

Lapis kept looking at her. Her expression had gone from awkward to blank, though she moved back a little at Peridot’s words. Peridot winced, but knew she couldn’t keep going on like this. She needed this out in the open.

“I- I really like you. A-and, I have, for a while, and…” She sighed quietly. “I just think you’re great, ok?”

Lapis kept looking at her, and Peridot felt defeated.

“If… you don’t like me back, that’s fine, I just had to tell you-”

“Peridot.”

Peridot looked up, her eyes caught with Lapis’. Lapis’ eyes bored into her, and Peridot felt something inside her shift as she stared into her.

The blue-haired student smiled gently. “Do you have any idea how long I was waiting for that?”

“W-what?”

“It wasn’t exactly subtle.” She laughed lightly, though there was definitely some nerves in there. Peridot still stared at her. The other student let out a breath, her hand absentmindedly trailing out from her blue sundress and over the cement step they sat upon. 

“It wasn’t really fair to not say anything, now that I think about it.” Lapis drew her hand up, fidgeting with a lock of her hair. “I- I wanted to see if you were going to say it yourself, but… Heh.” She rubbed her eyes. “I should have just done it.”

Peridot couldn’t really believe she’d done this, now that she was in the situation. All that she could manage was a squeaky, “Oh?”

Lapis drew her hand back over the cement, her eyes drifting down to the ground. “I’m sorry about that, Peridot.” She looked back up at her, a gentle smile on her face. “But… I like you too.” She exhaled softly. “A lot. And I should have said something.”

Peridot just sat there wide-eyed, trying as hard as she could to process what Lapis had just said. The other student had dark cheeks, visible even in the dim light filtering from the doors of the hotel, and she was fidgeting more than ever. Clearly, she hadn’t been the only one timid about voicing how she felt… She couldn’t believe it. She’d never thought of Lapis as timid - no, no, scrap that, she had never, _never_ considered, ever, that Lapis would like her back…

Lapis made a quiet noise in the back of her throat, and Peridot was ripped back into reality, staring at the beautiful girl in front of her. She sat there, accessing the situation. With a swallow, she gently moved her hand to brush over Lapis’.

Lapis stared down at her hand. Peridot, even knowing that she liked her back (which she honestly _still_ didn’t believe) didn’t know if she’d take it. But she did take it, moving her hand to intertwine with hers, and she leaned forward so that their foreheads were together.

They kept staring in silence, before Peridot couldn‘t help but laugh again. Lapis laughed too, her voice quivering as she asked, “Do you want to kiss?”

“If you want to,” Peridot answered quietly. She squeezed Lapis’ hand. 

Lapis squeezed back, and before she knew it, their lips were pressed together.

It was a very clumsy first kiss, being that Peridot hadn’t had much experience and it seemed as though Lapis hadn’t either. Even so, it sent butterflies flapping madly in Peridot’s stomach, and little flicks of electricity coursing through her lips and arms and ribs. She couldn’t believe how this felt. She closed her eyes, tilting her head and making a soft noise as they pulled apart, foreheads still together.

Lapis broke the silence, laughing softly. Peridot let go of her hand, throwing her arms around her, and before she knew it Lapis’ arms were around her, and both were laughing, holding each other in the warm Maryland night outside the motel.

As they slowly calmed down, Peridot reached back down to take Lapis’ hand. “I’m so glad you know,” she murmured. Lapis looked at her gently. 

“I’m glad you know, too,” she replied, holding her hand.

They had one more moment of looking at each other in the silence before a particular boom of the music inside the motel startled them back into real life. Peridot laughed again. 

“O-oh, we should probably go back in there. The teachers are probably wondering where we went…”

“It’s ok.” Lapis squeezed Peridot’s hand, starting to lead her back up to the door. Peridot followed her, still amazed at what had happened. 

As they entered the room again, still filled with loud students and louder music, Peridot still felt that silence inside her, that peacefulness that could happen just sitting next to Lapis. She didn’t feel as overwhelmed anymore. She saw the way Lapis walked, and the gentle squeeze of her hand told her she felt the same now.

They rejoined the dancing masses, ready to start anew.


	14. Unexpected Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy cow guys, second to last chapter. 
> 
> This is honestly the one I've been most excited about writing. It's got some loose ends I've been meaning to tie up, as well as, you know, the climax. Enjoy, guys!

Peridot and Lapis stayed together for the rest of the night. More than once, the nervous blonde found herself dancing with the other student, softly swaying under the glowing lights mounted on the ceiling as slow music played over the speakers she herself had set up. She was having trouble describing what she was feeling as she rocked back and forth with Lapis’ arms wrapped around her.

When prom finally ended, the two walked out onto the curb together while Lapis waited for her mother. Peridot didn’t feel the need to say anything. They still held hands. Eventually, Lapis’ mother showed up, and Lapis turned to Peridot, a small smile on her face.

“I’ll see you on Monday?”

Peridot smiled in return. “I’ll see you on Monday.” 

Lapis sighed happily, leaning forward and wrapping her arms tightly around Peridot, who immediately hugged back with a little giggle. They stayed in the hug for a few moments before Lapis reluctantly let go, getting into her car and waving goodbye to the other student as she drove out of the parking lot and towards home.

Peridot watched her leave, then turned back to the entrance of the Keystone. Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst were still at the top of the stairs laughing and joking with each other, casually leaning over each other’s shoulders. Peridot wondered if she could finally understand how much Garnet cared about them. It was quite a while before they headed down the stairs, Garnet stepping out. 

“Peridot. Would you mind staying here just a bit longer? Pearl’s lost her bag, and we need to go find it.”

“Not at all.” It was late, but Peridot was well-accustomed to staying up late. Besides, she had a fondness for this place she definitely hadn’t had hours ago.

“Great.” Garnet smiled at her. “We’ll be back soon.” The three of them ran back up the stairs, disappearing into the building.

Peridot decided to wander.

The Keystone wasn’t a large building, and she walked around it quietly, gazing up at the stars above her and listening to the occasional sound of cars driving along the road nearby. After a bit, she found herself near the diner next to the Keystone, the lights miraculously still on. Peridot wondered if it was still open.

She approached the diner, sitting down outside it on the hill and looking up at the stars.

She couldn’t believe she and Lapis had kissed.

She couldn’t believe just about everything that had happened that night. 

The student let out a quiet laugh to herself, wiping her forehead and shaking out her hair. She couldn’t believe the chance involved here. What would have happened if she hadn’t left Diamond High? She couldn’t believe that yelling at her principal had somehow wound up being the best thing she had ever done. And what would have happened had Lapis never come back to the school? Would they have just not met?

She was still blown away.

She heard the sound of boots on concrete and looked up sharply. There was a tall figure walking along the sidewalk next to the diner, and Peridot tensed. The stranger seemed to notice her, and she tried her best to look at them. They drew nearer to her, and she relaxed slightly, though for some vague reason Peridot couldn’t put her finger on, she looked familiar.

The stranger wasn’t a tall man, as she had feared, but was instead a tall teenager with long bleached hair. She had muscles to rival Garnet’s, and though Peridot wondered if the light filtering from the diner was playing tricks on her, seemed to have mottled skin that reminded her faintly of Malachite’s birthmarks.

The teenager reached her, leaning down to look at her. “You lost?” Her voice was deep and raspy, as though she had spent her entire day shouting at someone. However, right now, she was quiet and gentle as could be, if not curious. Peridot shook her head.

“Oh, no, just waiting for some friends. We just finished our prom.”

“Prom, huh?” The teenager blinked a little. “Nice. I’m waiting on a friend getting a burger. Mind me sitting here?”

“Not at all.” Peridot scooched over a little, making room for the stranger, who seated herself down onto the grass. She was even more massive than Peridot had noticed earlier. She could have easily fit into her lap with plenty of room to spare.

The stranger seemed a little awkward, and cleared her throat, threading her fingers together. “So, uh, what school?”

“Crystal Quaker.” Peridot mentally prepared herself to explain which school it was and what it taught, as pretty much everyone she spoke to outside of the school had never heard of it. However, the questions about the nature of her education never came. She looked over at the stranger to see her looking over at her, her eyes slightly widened. A low, choked noise of surprise left her throat.

“Crystal… Quaker?”

“Yeah…”

The other person was silent, her eyes on Peridot. Peridot began to feel uncomfortable, then slightly threatened as the stare didn’t leave her. She swallowed quietly, suddenly noticing a multitude of scars across the teenager’s face.

“D-do… you mind me asking your name?”

“It’s Jasper.”

Every hair on the back of Peridot’s neck slowly stood up. Her gaze drifted over every inch of the other. Those scars - oh goodness, were those _bites_ -

She made a noise. Jasper looked at her, a somber expression on her face.

“You know who I am, don’t you?” She sounded defeated. Peridot couldn’t say a word. She just looked at the former Crystal Quaker student, her head hanging and shoulders slumped. She continued in a quiet, unhappy voice.

“...It got to be a story. Just like everything at that school.” She sighed quietly. “You’re new. I didn’t see you around last year. But you know anyway.”

“W-why? Did you do it?” Peridot’s voice shook, recalling all she’d heard and unable to believe the things she’d heard about her. Jasper gave a humorless laugh.

“Grab the dog?” Peridot nodded, and Jasper let out a slow exhale, then looked at her as she dug a hand into the ground. “...A lot of things happened to me at that school. I was ridiculed. I hurt people, and- people got back at me. I became scared to swim. It was just- thing, after thing, and…” She gritted her teeth. “I wanted things to change. Whether that was me getting out of the school, or…” She trailed off, not saying anything else.

Peridot was completely silent. Jasper’s gaze had slid down to the grass in front of her. 

Finally, the student spoke. “A-are… are you alright now?”

She sighed softly. “I’m not ok. But I’m getting better.” She looked over her shoulder towards the diner. “I have friends now.” For the first time that night, Peridot saw her face change to something that wasn’t unhappy.

Jasper turned to look at her fully. “You know… you sound familiar. What’s your name?”

“P-Peridot. Peridot Pritchard,” Peridot stuttered out. Jasper’s face flashed with recognition.

“Oh yeah, I know you.” She smiled slightly. “Hey, old neighbor.”

Peridot felt it come rushing back to her in an instant. 

She remembered seeing a little kid with messy white stripes crisscrossing her skin with her front teeth out, sometimes straying into her backyard and shouting that she was trying to catch a cat. She remembered watching her run into the street one time to play a game with her rowdy cousins, beating them all in a matter of seconds. She remembered a moving van coming to her house when Peridot was no more than five years old, a tiny, solemn-faced Jasper walking out to sit in the car with her remaining mom. 

Her breath caught in her throat. “Hey.”

Jasper looked at her with the same awkward smile. “I always thought you were fun to mess with.” She breathed out, patting the grass gently. “Well. Good to see you turned ok.”

They sat in the quiet of the night for a bit before Peridot turned to her. “H-hey… is there anything I can do for you?”

Jasper sighed and laughed, shaking her head. “I’ll be alright. You just… enjoy yourself. I’ll turn out ok eventually.” 

The bell on the diner door chiming interrupted their conversation, and Jasper looked up. A tall, heavyset girl with a buzzcut stood near the door awkwardly, holding her bag. “Uh… Jasper? Did you meet somebody you know?”

“Yeah.” Jasper got up, dusting herself off. “Old neighbor. I’m ready to go, Topaz.” She walked over next to her, giving a look back to Peridot. She waved slightly. “Goodbye, Peridot.”

“Goodbye, Jasper,” Peridot answered quietly.

Jasper gave her a nod, and together, she and her friend walked down the sidewalk into the night. 

Peridot was left alone sitting on the hill until she heard the calls of Amethyst coming from the entrance of the Keystone. “Peridot! Hey, where are ya, we found Pearl’s bag!”

The blonde scrambled to her feet, quickly making her way over to the steps in front of the building. Garnet was waiting with her car, and Amethyst and Pearl stood outside of it. Amethyst smiled. “Hey, there you are. Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“It’s fine,” Peridot dismissed, still blown away by what had just happened.

“Good.” She turned around at the deep sound of Garnet’s voice. The tall student smiled. “You ready to head home?”

Peridot stood there, then nodded. She got into Garnet’s car, waving goodbye to Pearl and Amethyst before they drove out of the parking lot and down the road. 

The drive back was quiet, but Peridot’s mind was anything but. Garnet had turned down the radio, just listening to the summer-ish wind outside her window. After a bit, Peridot found herself in the same state of mind, just listening. She wondered if it was better this way. Eventually, with her thoughts open, she remembered how Jasper had sounded as she talked about her life now.

She’d sounded free. 

She couldn’t imagine anyone not wanting to be at her school, after her experience. But maybe this was what was right in the long run for Jasper. Maybe this was her experience, the one she’d never experienced at Crystal Quaker.

Maybe it was just right for their paths to divert, after all these years. The tangle of Jasper’s life at Crystal Quaker was finally unraveling, freeing her up to do what she wanted. And instead, Peridot had found exactly where she fit in.

It was a complicated whirlwind of thoughts, and soon, Garnet was glancing over at her. “You alright?”

“Yeah,” Peridot said quietly. “Just thinking some stuff over.”


	15. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well guys, this is it! Last chapter. It's much shorter than the others, but hey, it's an epilogue.
> 
> I want to thank you all for reading this story and commenting on it, it was so much fun to write! This story may be over, but I do have more things I'm planning to write. (And in the meantime, I'll certainly take requests.) So if you want, keep on watching. I'll be posting more stuff soon.

She couldn’t believe it was over.

The year had flown by so fast, she had barely even realized when it was coming to an end. And now she was sitting in their final meeting, watching some students cry on each other’s shoulders, others with their yearbooks under their seats, the teachers with bittersweet smiles on their faces.

She was sitting somewhere she never thought she’d find herself, either, in the middle of a group of friends who had known each other for years, and had still taken her in. She was leaning against Garnet, who had Pearl and Amethyst on either side of her, the students simply sitting together as they reflected on all that had happened.

Peridot was happy to be with them. She was also happy to be with Lapis.

She and the other sophomore had gone on one or two dates since they’d kissed at the prom, but mostly they would just meet in Lapis’ house and talk together until they both fell asleep. It was quiet and comforting to Peridot, and Lapis seemed to enjoy it a lot too. She still couldn’t believe they’d gotten together, but here they were, at the last school meeting, listening as some students shared their thoughts from the year.

Nobody in her group had anything to say. They all listened, as simple as could be. Peridot couldn’t believe she’d come to value listening so much as well over the year.

When the meeting was finally over and the students were released for summer, Peridot hugged everyone goodbye. She was met with chuckles and, in Amethyst’s case, a lift off the ground as the enthusiastic girl yelled goodbye with a grin on her face. As they walked out of the school to head home for the vacation, she walked with Lapis, only stopping as she spotted her mom waiting with the car. She turned to her. 

“So, I see you at five tomorrow, right?”

Lapis nodded, smiling. “Yep. I’ll see you then.”

Peridot returned her smile, leaning in and giving her friend a long hug and a gentle kiss goodbye. She waved as she walked to her car, getting in the passenger’s seat. She was still waving as she drove out of the school, her friends waving back and calling goodbye to her.

As soon as they turned out of the school and started to head on the road home, Peridot leaned back and smiled to herself, thinking everything over. As much as she couldn’t believe it… she couldn’t wait until she came back to this crazy school. She couldn’t wait until she got to watch all the ridiculousness sure to ensue happen again. But most importantly in her mind, she couldn’t wait to see the students who had taken her in again.


End file.
